Mets 3, Phillies 1: Remember when Oliver Perez and Carlos Delgado both stunk? Ah, those were the days. They won Thursday's matinee against the Phillies almost all by themselves. Perez struck out 12 batters in 7 2/3 innings but he got a no-decision because he had the misfortune of leaving before the Mets took the lead. They did that when Delgado hit a two-run double down the left-field line in the bottom of the eighth.......

Yankees 5 Minnesota 1: New York completed the sweep thanks to another great start from Mike Mussina. Mussina won his 13th game of the year by pitching eight innings while allowing only six base runners and zero runs. He also struck out seven batters. With probably 12 more starts left this season, Mussina has a shot at winning 20 games for the first time in his career. Robinson Cano continued his torrid hitting with a......

Phillies 8, Mets 6: Johan Santana threw eight innings of two-run ball and then turned the game over to the bullpen with a 5-2 lead. No problem, right? Not quite. Duaner Sanchez, Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano gave up six runs -- the first five of which came before anyone got an out -- and the Mets choked away the opener of a three-game set that will decide first place, at least for the time......

The Yankees sweep the Athletics and the Mets managed to salvage a split of their series against Cleveland....

The Mets win their 10th game in a row, thanks to a ninth inning two-run home run from David Wright....

Well, it's the ultimate accessory if you're Mets reliever Joe Smith. Because he missed out on rookie hazing last year, Smith must wear a pink Hello Kitty backpack every time he walks from the dugout to the bullpen. Mets closer Billy Wagner presented him with the bag on June 19 and proclaimed, "It's not Hello Kitty, it's Hello Smitty -- mee-oww!" And Smith has been living up to the demand: Recently, the bag has been......

Photograph of coach Dan Warthen congratulating reliever Billy Wagner for managing the save by Tom Mihalek/AP Mets 10, Phillies 9: Leave it to the Mets to stake Pedro Martinez to a 10-1 lead and then make him sweat it out. Martinez was charged with two runs in 5 1/3 innings, striking out six. He gave up two home runs, but this time they came with no one on base. Things looked rosy when he......

Photographs of Alex Rodriguez hitting his 536th home run at Yankee Stadium by Kathy Willens/AP Yankees 5, Red Sox 4 (10 innings): Brett Gardner's seeing-eye single in the 10th inning helped the Yankees salvage a split. And, in history-making news, Alex Rodriguez tied Mickey Mantle on the all-time home run list (they both have 536 home runs) with a solo shot. At certain points, the Yankees trailed, 3-1, and 4-2, but a two-run rally......

Mets 3 Yankees 1: It’s clear that Oliver Perez needs to make all his starts against the Yankees. Back in May, Perez dominated the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, Sunday it was another dominating performance, this time at Shea. Perez allowed only three hits over seven innings while striking out 8. Another Met who will be sorry to see the Subway Series end is Carlos Delgado. Delgado hit his third home run of the series, a......

Photograph of Alex Rodriguez celebrating with third base coach Bobby Meacham after A-Rod hit a third-inning home run by Frank Franklin II/AP Yankees 8 Padres 5: Is it a coincidence that the Yankees have gone 19-9 since A-Rod returned to the lineup? You certainly have to give Posada some credit too, but the lineup is scoring again and the Yankees have been able to overcome some rough pitching, especially from their bullpen. Wednesday night......

Yankees 13 Houston 0: It should have been a great day for the Yankees. An easy win completing a 5-1 road trip should provide plenty of reasons to smile. But all the joy was dashed in the sixth inning when Chien-Ming Wang started limping on the way to scoring the first run of his career. Wang has been diagnosed with a sprain on the top of the foot and will have a MRI tomorrow. Losing......

Photographs of the Diamondbacks' Chris Young (left) hitting a ninth inning RBI double off Mets reliever Billy Wagner (right) by Kathy Willens/AP Diamondbacks 5, Mets 4: This one's on Billy Wagner, whose summation above says it all. Johan Santana pitched seven scoreless innings. Ramon Castro went deep and scored another run. David Wright had an RBI double. Joe Smith gave up two runs in the eighth, but Wagner entered the ninth with his team......

Photograph of Carlos Beltran being welcomed by teammates after his 13th inning, game-winning 2-run home run by Julie Jacobson/AP Mets 5 Arizona 3 (13 innings): They simply couldn’t afford to blow this one. Up 3-0, thanks to a brilliant start from Mike Pelfrey, the Mets lost their lead when Billy Wagner served up a three-run dinger in the ninth to Mark Reynolds. Reynolds’ home run came on a full count, with two outs and......

Yankees 6 Kansas City 3: Start number two for Joba was longer and somewhat better. Chamberlain lasted 78 pitches, which translated to 4-1/3 innings, striking out five and allowing three runs. He really made only one bad mistake, a hanging slider that Jose Guillen crunched for his 10th home run of the season. Johnny Damon continued his hot hitting with two more hits and scored two runs. Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi both hit home......

Mets 3 Los Angeles 2: For seven innings it looked like the Mets would lose and Tim McCarver’s yammering about their lack of passion would come true. Inning after inning had passed and the Mets had blown several scoring opportunities, but the eighth inning proved to be a difference maker. Down 2-0, David Wright got things going with a double. Carlos Beltran followed with his fifth home run of the year, tying the game and......

All signs point to this being a critical weekend for Willie Randolph if he wants to keep his job. Ownership is clearly peeved at him, refusing to return his apology phone call and having Omar Minaya do it. The fans are filling the talk radio airwaves with anti-Willie diatribes and the team is not playing well. In fact, they have essentially played .500 ball for over a season. If you go back to May 19th,......

Photograph (left) of Mets' Billy Wagner from the AP; NY Daily News cover (right) of Jason Giambi and a thong (blech) The Mets and Yankees are in the middle of their first subway series game of the season right now (last night's game was rained out--it may be rescheduled later this summer), but the real news is what's happening off the field. With the day off, Mets manager Willie Randolph held a closed door......

Washington 1 Mets 0: Where was Jose Reyes going? Down 1-0 in the 8th, Reyes led off the inning with a single. The Mets played for the tie by sacrificing him over to second and it worked, but for some reason Reyes tried to get to third. With his speed and the middle of the order coming up, it was a stupid risk and Reyes was thrown out. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only baserunning gaffe......

Tampa Bay 2 Yankees 1 (11th): Even the best don’t get it done on some night, Tuesday was Mariano Rivera’s turn. Rivera pitched a scoreless tenth, but he couldn’t get out of the eleventh and the Yankees lost for the second-consecutive night. But, the blame shouldn’t go on the pitching staff, they only allowed two runs over eleven innings, it was the hitting that was awful. The Yankees managed to only get six hits and......

Dodgers 5, Mets 1: He performed better than he did against Pittsburgh in his last start, but Oliver Perez was still underwhelming in the Mets' loss in Chavez Ravine. Four days after walking five and retiring five batters in 1 2/3 innings, the lefty allowed three home runs -- no easy task at pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium -- in the series opener. He only walked two and didn't seem to be affected by a Jeff Kent......

A day after the biggest end-of-season collapse in baseball history, New York Mets Carlos Delgado, John Maine and a few others cleared out their lockers at Shea (a few lockers, including Tom Glavine's and Billy Wagner's, were cleaned before reporters arrived). General Manager Omar Minaya made comments supporting manager Willie Randolph's leadership ("I believe in Willie Randolph"), and the Post reports that that kind of support will be important: "Mets ownership has ordered Minaya......

For a team used to making miracles, conjuring up a disaster had an especially bitter taste. With a sloppily played 8-1 loss to Florida and the Phillies' 6-1 win against the Nationals, the Mets' season ended about a month too early. The loss capped an agonizing stretch of two and a half weeks in which the Mets played some of the worst teams in the National League and still played their worst baseball of......

Marlins 8, Mets 7 (10 innings): Taking a three-run lead into the bottom of the ninth against the Marlins should be no problem right? Not when Billy Wagner is mysteriously absent -- the Mets later said he was having back spasms -- and his replacements are the not-so-capable Pedro Feliciano and the highly inflammable Jorge Sosa. They combined to cough up the lead in the bottom of the ninth, ruining a dramatic comeback posted by......

Mets 3 Braves 2: Some people may question Willie Randolph’s managing, but they had better give him credit for this weekend. After a dismal sweep at the hands of the Phillies, the Mets responded in a huge way, sweeping their archrival in Atlanta. Tom Glavine contributed at both ends, driving in the first run of the game and allowing only one run in six innings. David Wright added his 25th home run of the year,......

Mets 7, Braves 1: What the? After getting swept by the Phillies, the Mets managed to get a win against a team they've had little success against all this season. Boy did they need it too after losing five straight games. John Maine pitched marvelously over 7 innings, only allowing 3 hits. The one run the Braves scored came on a wild pitch in a tense 6th inning when the Braves had the bases loaded.......

Phillies 11, Mets 10: When a team enters a four-game series against a team six games behind in the standings, one thought has to be, "Let's not get swept." Well, the Mets got swept, and they didn't look good doing it. They put up several fights Thursday, battling back from 5-0 and 8-5 deficits to take a 10-8 lead into the eighth. But Billy Wagner, summoned to pitch an inning early, allowed a home run......

Mets 4, Dodgers 3: The performance of the Mets bullpen and of Carlos Delgado haven't exactly inspired fear recently, so when Orlando Hernandez pitched deep into the game and Delgado actually hit, things were going pretty well. Hernandez threw for 7 great innings, allowing only 2 runs by the Dodgers and retired 12-straight at one point. Delgado used the game to break out of a 0-19 slump at the plate. Dropped all the way down......

Padres 9, Mets 8 (10 innings): After playing two back-and-forth games, the Mets and Padres pulled out all the stops in this 10-inning affair. All the stops, that is, except the ability to hold leads. The Mets rallied from a 6-1 deficit in the sixth inning to take a one-run lead, but Billy Wagner blew that as the Padres took the lead in the top of the ninth. Not to worry. For the second time......

Mets 7, Padres 6: When Trevor Hoffman enters a game, more often than not, it's over for the opposing team. Then again, the all-time save leader with 513, has never been good in New York. Last night, the Mets came back from a one-run deficit in the 9th with Hoffman in the game for a dramatic victory. From the Mets standpoint, the bottom of the 9th was perfect and they looked like the Mets of......

Mets 10 Pirates 8: What should have been a laugher became a little too close for comfort two different times Wednesday night. The Mets jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first, thanks to doubles from David Wright and Carlos Delgado and a home run from Moises Alou, but Pittsburgh crept back into the game. The Pirates scored twice in the second and added single runs in the fourth and sixth to make it......