Results tagged “elduque”

Johnny Damon had a great game, going 3-for-5 and making an outstanding catch. Jason Giambi woke his slumbering bat with a grand slam and Jorge Posada added two hits and a home run. Phil Hughes did just enough and was helped by some great defensive plays as he allowed six baserunners, but only one run over six innings.

• Mets 5 Pittsburgh 4: El Duque struck out eight, but he was also wild, walking five and allowing three runs over six innings. Moises Alou gave the Mets the lead with a two-run single in the eighth and Lastings Milledge made a great catch in the bottom of the inning to preserve the win. Billy Wagner worked a flawless ninth for his 27th save.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Beating The Bucs"

• Yankees 7 Tampa Bay 3: If the Yankees are going to start winning regularly they will need more nights like this. A-Rod, Jeter and Abreu homered to pace the attack and Andy Pettitte gutted out 5 2/3 innings for the win. Before the game, A-Rod announced that he will not discuss a new conteact with the Yankees until the season is over.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Break's Over"

The Mets offense didn’t take long to get going with Jose Reyes leading off with a single and stealing second. He scored on an infield single by Carlos Beltran, which ended with a collision at first base. Beltran was shaken up on the play and although he stayed in the game and ran the bases, he was lifted before the start of the second inning. He has a bruised right knee and will get a MRI on it Friday.

That all changed in the ninth. After trading runs in the eighth, the Mets started the inning with Delgado earning a walk. Carlos Gomez came into run for him and promptly stole second. He scored on a botched fielder’s choice and then the floodgates opened. Reyes and Chavez singled home runs and Carlos Beltran doubled to make it 6-1. Only some nifty relief pitching by Randy Messenger kept the Mets from doing more damage, but they had scored enough even though Billy Wagner pitched a shaky ninth.

But, the on-ice officials had not called the play a goal and without conclusive evidence, the play had to stand as called. In the end, the Rangers probably got away with one, but they will take it and a 2-2 series back to Buffalo on Friday.

• Islanders 3 Rangers 2 (Shootout): Their playoff hopes may be on life-support, but at least the Islanders didn’t have to see their arch-rivals clinch their own spot in the postseason in person.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Staying Alive"

As for the Nets, it is hard to understand why they didn’t make a deal. With Vince Carter probably opting out of his deal at the end of the season and Jason Kidd getting older and older, this would have been a great opportunity to start the rebuilding process. Instead, the Nets will play out the string and possibly win the division, though that isn’t saying much.

-Mets 7 Braves 4: This one soothed the soul. The Mets haven’t looked like much the past week, but Thursday night, El Duque reminded everyone why they are the best team in the NL. Hernandez pitched five innings allowing only an unearned run and showed why he will take the mound in Game One of the NLDS next week. Carlos Beltran added his 41st home run and Jose Reyes added his 64th steal in the win.

-Braves 13 Mets 1: The question isn’t whether or not Pedro Martinez should start the first game of the playoffs; it’s whether or not he should start any of them. Pedro had his worst start since coming off the DL, giving up seven runs on eight hits and not throwing above 86-mph. After the game, Pedro admitted that he was “not at the level of Glavine or El Duque” but is he even at the level of Trachsel or Maine?

-Yankees 4 Tampa Bay 1: While New York spent most of September marching toward another division championship, there was one thought in the back of their minds. When will Mariano come back? Rivera had been sidelined since the end of August with a forearm strain and everyone knows that he is truly the indispensable Yankee come October. While we won’t know for sure until tomorrow, his return seems on track. Rivera struck out the side with a broken-bat single and a hit batter wedged in between.

-Yankees 3 Orioles 2: On a day when New York played without a lot of regulars they managed to eek out a win, thanks to Chien-Ming Wang. Wang went 7 1/3 innings to win his 17th game, giving up only one run. Mike Myers and Scott Proctor combined to finish the eighth and Kyle Farnsworth earned the save despite allowing a home run to Kevin Millar.

-Mets 2 Rockies 0: On a day when New York received grim news about Tom Glavine El Duque gave them a big lift. Hernandez was brilliant, giving up five hits while striking out eight and got all the support he needed from a Carlos Delgado home run in the second. Carlos Beltran added his 35th homer of the season in the sixth as the Mets swept Colorado and won their 75th game.

-Yankees 6 Baltimore 3: The game plan has become very familiar: keep working the count to force the starting pitcher to work hard and then once he is out of the game, bomb the bullpen. Erik Bedard shut down New York for six innings, but needed 106 pitches to do so. The Yankees scored all six of their runs after he left with Johnny Damon hitting a big home run and Robinson Cano delivering a clutch RBI-single. The win and the Boston loss puts the Yankees’ lead in the division back to three games.

For the Mets, the trading deadline represents opportunity and a time for caution. With a 12-game lead in the division, New York doesn’t necessarily need to make a trade, but it may be in their best interests to do so. If, and that’s a big if, a premiere pitcher becomes available, say a Zito or Willis, will Omar pull the trigger? With Steve Trachsel and El Duque struggling and John Maine and Mike Pelfry still unknown quantities, adding another starter would transform the Mets from playoff contender to playoff favorite.

-Mets 13 Cubs 7: New York fell behind 5-0, not a problem when you hit not one, but two grand slams in a single inning. The Mets erupted for eleven runs in the sixth thanks to home runs from Cliff Floyd, Carlos Beltran and David Wright plus two errors by Todd Walker.

As the Mets commence with the second-half of their season, they have a twelve-game lead in the division and barring a miracle, should coast into the playoffs. That doesn’t mean that they can just sit back and wait until October. In order to contend in the fall, New York will need to make sure that Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine are rested and ready to go. If that means keeping Pedro on the DL indefinitely and skipping some of Glavine’s starts, so be it.

-Mets 5 Pirates 0: The game could have ended after the first inning when New York jumped all over Kip Wells for all of their scoring. Jose Reyes led off the game with a triple and scored on Paul LoDuca’s single. The Mets loaded the bases and Jose Valentin doubled home two runs. After a wild pitch scored another run, Endy Chavez singled home the fifth run of the inning.

-Yankees 2 Mets 0: Are the Mets simply picking the wrong time to slump, or is the American League just that much better than the National League? It’s a legitimate question after the Yankees held the Mets to only one hit and increased their losing streak to four games. While Mets’ fans have been eager to draw parallels to 1986 this year, they should remember that winning the World Series requires beating the team from the American League.

While the Yankees couldn’t find a way to fit in Old Timer’s Day or a baseball game due to the rain, the Mets were in Toronto facing the Blue Jays. El Duque simply didn’t have it and the Blue Jays cruised to a 7-4 victory.

-Red Sox 9 Yankees 3: For five innings it seemed like the Yankees might pull off an improbable sweep. They led Boston 3-1 heading into the sixth, but Jaret Wright suddenly lost control of his fastball and Boston jumped all over him and two subsequent relievers to cruise to a 9-3 victory. The loss leaves New York with a ½ game lead in the AL East.

Red Bull New York lost to FC Dallas, 2-1. While the loss was only the 2nd loss of the season for the Red Bulls, they only have one win. The rest of their games all ended in a tie.

Rivera’s brilliance was backed up by Alex Rodriguez’s bat. A Rod connected in the first inning off of former Yankee, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez for a two-run homer that put the Yankees in the lead for good. Derek Jeter added a RBI groundout to put the Yankees up 3-0. Mike Mussina pitched six innings while giving up two runs and striking out seven.

The Yankees had every right for being upset that the Devil Rays did not show up on Monday in time for the double-header, but asking for a forfeit is not the Yankee way. It shows signs of frustration and worst of all desperation.

It was the worst loss in the history of Baseball. Let that sink in. In over 100 years of baseball there has never been a loss as bad as the one the Yankees suffered from the hands of the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night. 22-0. It was the low point of the Yankee season. But, it only counted as one game in the standings. The next day the Yankees put it behind them and came out with a 5-4 win and then clinched the series with a 9-1 win last night.

Orlando Hernandez looks flat-out amazing these days. He may be the best pitcher on the Yankees pitching staff and right now is the only one that you can count on for a solid start. Last night Hernandez took his record to 5-0 with a 5-1 win over the hard-hitting Texas Rangers.