St. Louis 3 Mets 0: And so it has come to this, with three games left in the year the Mets are now tied for first with the Phillies. A seven-game lead has evaporated in two weeks and with the Padres winning tonight, missing the playoffs has become a very real possibility. How this team breaks out of these doldrums is hard to imagine. The Mets only got one runner to second base in Thursday’s......

Nationals 10, Mets 9: Willie Randolph better be queuing up a tape of the 2006 Cardinals' September. Back then, they didn' t pitch, lost a ton of games down the stretch, and looked dead entering the playoffs. This year's Mets can identify. They can't seem to do anything right. Even with a six-run ninth-inning rally, the Mets came up one run short. At least Philadelphia lost to Atlanta -- still feels weird to root for......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery at the Washington Mutual on Sheepshead Bay Rd. in Brooklyn, a worker fell into the water off Pier 11 on Governor's Island, and a bank robbery on 57th St. and Broadway in Manhattan. Additional charges could be in store for the woman who allegedly shot a Staten Island commune leader before fleeing to Philadelphia. Maya Rudolph is not returning for the new season of Saturday Night......

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and his wife Cynthia were the very portrait of a snuggly couple at a U.S. Open match yesterday evening. The Post says the couple was "love-love" but the tabloid is probably disappointed that it's not a picture of A-Rod with a stripper friend or C-Rod in her naughty tank top. And earlier in the day, Rodriguez had a home run and an error (that led to two unearned Devil......

Yankees 9, Devil Rays 6: Mike Mussina might want to worry now. Ian Kennedy threw seven innings of three-run ball -- though only one run was earned -- as the Yankees evened their series against the Devil Rays. Mussina might start if Roger Clemens is unable to go Monday, but the rookie Kennedy probably earned himself a few more starts with this one. Alex Rodriguez found himself at the center of everything today. He hit......

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.......

The Yankees and Mets head into today’s trade deadline with similar objectives, upgrading their bullpens, but the Mets have already strengthened their team. Yesterday, the Mets acquired Luis Castillo from the Minnesota Twins for AA catcher Drew Butera and Class A outfielder Dustin Martin. Martin had a .779 OPS for St. Lucie while Butera, considered more of a defensive player, had struggled in AA hitting only .188. In Castillo, a three-time All Star and former......

Yankees 21, Devil Rays 4: Every Yankee starter had a hit, an RBI and a run scored. The team put up 20 hits in consecutive games for the first time in more than 100 years. It scored 38 runs in less than 24 hours. Shelley Duncan had two home runs .Too bad the Devil Rays and their suspect pitching staff can't stay in the Bronx a little longer. The good news? The Yankees move on......

Devil Rays 14, Yankees 4: Pitchers can go from cruising to losing in a matter of batters. Mike Mussina's propensity to allow home runs makes him especially prone to such reversals of fortunes. He looked good for two innings on Friday but couldn't finish the fifth. Four games at home against the Devil Rays might look like a well-wrapped Christmas present, but with Matt DeSalvo and Kei Igawa scheduled to start both ends of......

Mets 13, Dodgers 9: While Tom Glavine was on the mound attempting to win his 299th career game, the Mets were trying to win their first game against the Dodgers this year. In an trip to Los Angeles earlier this season, the Mets were swept in a three game series. The Mets jumped out to a 6-run lead in the first inning last night and never trailed, but Glavine couldn't keep the Dodgers from scoring......

Mets 2, Reds 1: On a night when the Mets honored one member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, a future member inched closer to the 300 win milestone. It was Ralph Kiner Night at Shea Stadium and the Mets announced that their broadcast booth at Citi Field will bear the broadcaster's name. The TV booth at Shea is already named after Kiner, who played in the Majors for 13 seasons, mostly with the Pittsburgh......

Reds 8, Mets 4: Double, bunt single, walk, grand slam. That's how this game started for John Maine, and the Mets never recovered. The Reds needed four batters to score four runs. The Mets took all nine innings. With the Braves' win over the Pirates, the Mets' National League East lead has dwindled to 1 1/2 games. That said, there's no shame to losing to the Reds with Aaron Harang on the mound. Dumping one......

Orioles 4, Yankees 0: Roger Clemens had struck out a batter in 200 straight starts until he lost to the Orioles on Wednesday. Maybe it was the heat -- it was 97 at the first pitch -- but when Clemens last went without a strikeout, he only pitched an inning before leaving with an injury. The Yankees have now lost four straight games and have not looked good doing it. They have managed four runs......

Darrel Rasner's broken index finger sends yet another Yankees pitcher to the sidelines for as long as three months, and necessitates that Joe Torre call up yet another young prospect to deal from the mound for the Bronx Bombers. The candidate making his Major League debut pitching at an away game in the high profile Subway Series at Shea will likely be Tyler Clippard, a righthanded 22-year-old. Just nine weeks ago, Clippard acknowledged that as......

Raptors 89, Nets 83: All the pressure in Game 2 was on the Raptors, but they came back and evened this series at one game apiece. This game had a painfully low-scoring first half, but things picked up down the stretch as Toronto's Chris Bosh and Anthony Parker overcame the efforts of Jason Kidd and Vince Carter for the Nets. Richard Jefferson's absence in the first half -- he didn't score and ended up with......

Rangers 3, Canadiens 1: Last season saw the Rangers start quickly before backing into the playoffs. Their quick dismissal by the Devils took plenty of the luster off a turnaround season. This season, the Rangers couldn't find a groove until recently, when they have played well and looked like a team that can make a dent in the playoffs. They can be carried by Jaromir Jagr -- who scored a goal and added an assist......

The Yankees begin their quest for the elusive 27th championship today when Carl Pavano takes the hill against the Devil Rays. That Pavano is the Opening Day choice shows you the weakness of this team, the starting pitching is very suspect. Chien-Ming Wang is hurt, though he should be back soon. Andy Pettitte has returned, but he has already had back issues. Mike Mussina is just older and the rest of the rotation is......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Gefilte Fish Chronicles (Sunday, 7:00 p.m. WNET 13; 10:00 p.m., WLIW 21) A look at three sisters as they spend weeks getting a traditional Passover seder ready. New York Mets at St. Louis Cardinals (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., ESPN 2) The Amazings start their 2007 campaign this year against the team that shouldn't have even been in the World Series. A bit of warning - the game is......

-Yankees 16 Tampa 1: How strange are these days for the Yankees? Well consider tonight when they used 17 position players, including Gary Sheffield at first and Mariano came in to pitch the seventh inning of the game. That’s what happens in the last week of September when you have the division wrapped up. Jaret Wright didn’t exactly dominate the Devil Rays, but he probably pitched well enough to win the job of fourth starter......

-Devil Rays 11, Yankees 4: Manager Joe Torre's history makes clear that he doesn't care too much about home-field advantage in the playoffs. Last year, he started a second-class lineup against Boston when a win would have given the Yankees the edge in their first-round series against the Angels. This year, his team will go down to the wire battling the Tigers for the American League's best record, but Torre's lineups won't reflect it. Mike......

- Mets 12, Nationals 6: What's left for the Mets this season? All they have to do is rest their regulars, fine tune their starting pitching (no crying in baseball, right?), and figure out who their first round opponent. Last night, potential fourth starter, John Maine took the mound and didn't look all that impressive - not the best way to earn a spot in the starting rotation. Maine allowed four runs over five......

The most important game involving a local baseball team was rained out on Thursday when Staten Island's decisive Game 3 against TriCity was postponed. It will be played on Friday, weather permitting, to decide the NY-Penn League championship. -Yankees 7, Devil Rays 4: In The Show, they play through the rain. Either that, or it wasn't as bad in the Bronx as it was on Staten Island. In any case, the Yankees came from behind......

-Mets 7 Florida 4 (11 innings): Hernandez/Mota/Heilman/Wagner, New York has plenty of bullpen firepower late in the game. While that can keep them in the game, their offense can win it. Carlos Delgado singled in the tying run and the Mets took the lead on a passed ball to cut their magic number to 2. If New Yrok wins tomorrow and Philadelphia loses, the Mets clinch their first playoff bearth since 2000. -Yankees 8......

-Yankees 12, Devil Rays 4: For eight innings, the margin of victory would have been more than the Yanks' magic number, which dropped to nine with the win. Hideki Matsui returned, went 4-for-4 with a walk and Mike Mussina pitched effectively. Both develepments should make Yankees fans smile. Some might have tuned out though, since Bobby Abreu knocked in six runs during a nine-run Yankees first inning. -Mets 6, Marlins 4: The Mets staged a......

-Mets 11, Braves 3: Orlando Hernandez pitched well, and Carlos Beltran added two home runs as the Mets continued their burying of the Atlanta Braves. The New York Times' Bill Rhoden outlined Saturday how Turner Field had been a house of horror for the most recent generation of Mets fans, but it will take a true collapse now for the Braves' stadium to maintiain that status. And, after a lukewarm 2005 season, Beltran has 30......

If you head to the south Bronx to take in a Yankee game this season, you very well might find names like Sal Fasano, Nick Green, and Aaron Guiel in the lineup. Injury-plagued is hardly a strong enough phrase for this season’s club. Who’s that pitching? Oh, that’s Sidney Ponson, the guy who punched a judge on the beach in Aruba and had an earned run average well over 5 in the National League......

-Mets 6, Braves 4: Pedro Martinez allowed four runs in the first inning but cruised afterwards, and the Mets' win over the Braves helped increase their already-large cushion in the NL East. For the fans who have waited so long for the Mets to overtake the Braves (the Amazin's have never beaten the Braves since they joined the NL East), this September will not be dramatic. Still, only the most fastidious fans will have a......

-Mets 7, Florida 6: David Wright's three-run homer helped the Mets come back and earn a split of the weekend's four-game series. They won't be tested until the playoffs, but the biggest challenge for the NL East leaders will be readjusting their starting rotation. After Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine, question marks remain. The Mets are fortunate to have a second half and a 12-game lead to make adjustments. -Devil Rays 6, Yankees 5: Most......

- Marlins 3, Mets 2: John Maine was the tough-luck loser yesterday in the first game of yesterday's doubleheader against the Marlins. Maine allowed only 6 hits over 6 innings, but three of those hits were home runs. The Mets didn't offer up much run support in the loss, getting only 3 hits. - Mets 17, Marlins 3: All the offense the Mets were lacking in game 1 against the Marlins came out in......

- Yankees 1, Devil Rays 0: What does Jaret Wright have to do to pitch more than 6 innings? Last night against Tampa Bay, Wright's pitch count was only at 91 after the 6th inning, he tied a career-high strikeout total with 10 and only allowed four hits. The Yankee bullpen kept the D-Rays hitless in the next three innings to preserve Wright's 5th victory of the season. The lone Yankee run came on......