There are some great sports stories all over the news today: LeBron James made his un-triumphant return to Cleveland last night, the Jets and Patriots are getting set for a pivotal Monday Night Football game, and Yankees GM Brian Cashman and his frosted tips are rapelling down buildings like a rich man's Spiderman. So what better time to ignore all that, and talk about K-Rod and the Mets! more ›

Since the Mets' season is effectively over, pitcher Francisco Rodriguez headed to court today to surrender on charges of violating an order of protection for his girlfriend. See, a judge orders you not to contact your girlfriend after (allegedly) punching her dad, contact includes text messages like "Your parents are manipulating you like a marionette." more ›

Even though Mets reliever Francisco Rodriguez was ordered not to contact girlfriend Daian Pena after he allegedly punched her dad during a game at Citifield, K-Rod still texted her 56 times. But he got saved by a Queens judge, who decided not to send him to jail for violating the order of protection but added, "If there any future text messages or communications, I will remand you." more ›

Another sign that Francisco Rodriguez isn't the brightest bulb in the Mets chandelier: His season is likely to end, as he needs surgery to repair a ligament in his right hand thumb...which was injured when he (allegedly) beat up his girlfriend's father last Wednesday at Citi Field. A Mets official said, "You can make the assumption that the injury resulted from the incident last week." more ›

Yesterday, Francisco Rodriguez faced the media and offered a brief apology to the Mets organization, his colleagues, and fans over his arrest for beating up his girlfriend's father after the Mets' Wednesday night loss, "First of all, I'm extremely sorry. I want to apologize to [owners] Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon and Mr. [Saul] Katz for the incident that happened Wednesday night. I want to apologize also to the Mets fans, to my teammates. I want to apologize, of course, to the front office for the embarrassing moment that I caused. I'm looking forward to being a better person." more ›

So, why did Francisco Rodriguez, the Mets' pricey closer, blow up at his girlfriend's father and beat him up after Wednesday's game? According to the Daily News, Rodriguez got seriously pissed off when Carlos Pena told him, "Stop acting like a baby. Man up, and play better." Then K-Rod's mother told Pena to shut up, only to prompt Pena to allegedly to respond, and then K-Rod jumped in, saying, "You can't talk to my mami that way!" more ›

Meet the Mess! Francisco Rodriguez, the Amazin's' closer, was suspended for two games and arraigned on third-degree assault charges for allegedly attacking his girlfriend's father at Citi Field last night. Plus orders of protection were issued for girlfriend Daina (or Diane?) Pena and her father Carlos. The judge allowed Rodriguez to go back to his Long Island home—but only to retrieve his belongings with the police present. more ›

As if the Mets needed more problems: The team's closer, Francisco Rodriguez, aka "K-Rod," was arrested after last night's loss to the Colorado Rockies at CitiField. He allegedly assaulted his father-in-law in the tunnel outside the clubhouse right after the game. K-Rod, 28, was charged with third-degree assault and is reportedly still in a holding facility at CitiField! more ›

• Royals 4, Yankees 3: Too bad Kyle Farnsworth can't close every game against the Yankees. Joba Chamberlain turned in a middling effort. The Yankees, who have clinched everything from the division to home-field advantage, have nothing to play for except their health. They have an off-day Thursday before traveling to St. Petersburg to play the Rays. Then come the playoffs.
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• Yankees 5, Blue Jays 4: One day after seeing Jorge Posada provoke a bench-clearing brawl, the Yankees saw his backup win the game in walk-off fashion. Francisco Cervelli hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth after Hideki Matsui tied the game with a two-run homer in the eighth. Chad Gaudin went 5 2/3 innings of three-run ball. With the Red Sox' come-from-behind win at Fenway, the Yankees' magic number is 11 as they prepare to go to the West Coast for one final time this season.
• Braves 6, Mets 5: With the Mets leading by a run entering the bottom of the ninth, Daniel Murphy decided he wanted the Mets to get to 20 games under .500. First, despite guarding the line, he let a Garret Anderson grounder turn into a double by not lunging for it, thinking it was foul. After the Braves had tied the game and had runners on first and second, Murphy made an error that allowed the winning run to score. For those who think Muprpy's offense makes up for his "defense" at first base, think again. He has a .309 on-base percentage and a .403 slugging. That's not even good enough for a great defensive first baseman. Closer Francisco Rodriguez wasn't pleased, either.
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• Yankees 2, Red Sox 0 (15 innings): A memorable game that saw dominant pitching, poor timely hitting and a two-out, two-run homer by Alex Rodriguez to end the game in the bottom of the 15th. A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett locked in a pitchers' duel but combined to work only half of the innings in this game. In the hits department, Burnett allowed only a leadoff single to Jacoby Ellsbury. He also walked six and struck out six. The Yankees had chances throughout extra innings and would have won in the 14th if not for a lunging catch in right field by J.D. Drew. CC Sabathia and Clay Buchholz continue the series Saturday at 4 p.m. The Yankees now lead the AL East by 4 1/2 games, their largest margin of the season.

• Orioles 5, Mets 4: Francisco Rodriguez had been all but perfect this season, but he looked mighty shaky in blowing turning a one-run lead into a walk-off loss. He walked in the tying run and then allowed Aubrey Huff -- future Met? -- to single in the winner. The critical play in the inning was Omir Santos' decision to try for the lead runner on a sacrifice bunt attempt with runners on first and second and no one out. That didn't work out well. Carlos Beltran, Alex Cora and Luis Castillo all had two hits in the loss.
• Nationals 3, Yankees 0: This one was not worth the 5 1/2 hour rain delay. The Yankees' offense looked sluggish against a starter it hadn't seen before -- what else is new? -- and fell on getaway day. For the first time ever, a game was played without a home run at the new Yankee Stadium. the Yankees could have used some power. Brett Gardner knocked himself out making a catch and had to be carted off the field. The effort, which was hamstrung by the inclusion of Gardner, Francisco Cervelli and Ramiro Pena in the lineup, lead to the embarrassing series loss at the hands of the Nationals. And Cervelli has not been nearly as good as people say he has been --. 310 on-base percentage and a .306 slugging average. His OPS is 30 percent worse than the average hitter.
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The feud between Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Bruney escalated today when K-Rod went after Bruney before the game at Yankee Stadium. Bruney got things started yesterday by making some disparaging comments about K-Rod’s save celebrations, "He's got a tired act. He gets what he deserves, man. I just don't like watching the guy pitch. I think it's embarrassing." Rodriguez responded by calling Bruney a nobody, "I don't even know who that guy is. Someone in Double A. I believe he's never pitched one full season. He's always been on the DL, that's all I know, so he better keep his mouth shut and do his job and not worry about anyone else," and daring Bruney to “say it to my face” the next time. Apparently, Rodriguez felt the need to say it to Bruney’s face before today's game and went over and confronted him. Jose Veras and Mike Pelfrey separated the two pitchers and no physical contact was made. more ›

• Marlins 4, Mets 3: Things looked swell in this one until the eighth inning. Fernando Tatis had put the Mets on top with a solo homer in the sixth that just got out to left field. J.J. Putz and then Francisco Rodriguez would be needed to secure six outs in relief of Johan Santana. But Putz coughed up the lead in the eighth and the Mets dropped the rubber game. Santana has three wins this year in five starts but has a 1.10 ERA -- and that's up from the 0.70 mark it was at the beginning of the day. After an off-day Thursday, the Mets travel to Philadelphia for a critical series starting Friday.
• Yankees 8, Tigers 6: This one turned out much more interesting than the Yankees would have liked, but it still helped the Yankees end a road trip that started with a four-game losing streak on a positive note. Nick Swisher homered twice -- he has three homers in his last two games -- and Joba Chamberlain struck out six and walked three in seven innings of one-run ball. Hideki Matsui also had three RBIs. The Yankees face the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Thursday.
• Red Bulls 2, Earthquakes 1: The Red Bulls finally won a match on the road. Unfortunately, it was only for a US Open play in game and doesn't count towards their regular season record.

The Mets have squandered a chance at the postseason in consecutive Septembers. The 2007 version capped a massive collapse. The 2008 version capped a generally disappointing and underachieving season. more ›

Amid rain and wind, the Mets opened their new ballpark with a 4-3 Spring Training win over the Red Sox on Friday. Livan Hernandez had the honor of throwing the first pitch at the park, which saw a decent but not great crowd after a day of poor weather. Carlos Beltran scored the first run for the Mets. The wide concourses that everyone has been raving out got a workout. Between the rain delay and people trying to walk around the park rather than watch the game, they held up well. Every concession stand had a line around it. And Francisco Rodriguez got the first save. He even gave a restrained fist pump. Is that a good omen? more ›

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In two days Omar Minaya has revamped the Mets bullpen and turned it into a formidable weapon. Minaya has completed a three-team, 12-player trade with the Mariners and Indians that brings relief pitcher J.J. Putz to New York. Putz, who has been closing games for Seattle the past three seasons, had some elbow problems last season but pitched very well at the end of the season. The combination of Putz and Francisco Rodriguez should make the Mets very hard to beat in the late innings. In addition to Putz, the Mets receive outfielder Jeremy Reed and reliever Sean Green, both from the Mariners. Leaving New York are seven players, Aaron Heilman, Endy Chavez, Jason Vargas, Maikel Cleto, Ezequiel Carrera and Mike Carp, all to the Mariners, and Joe Smith to the Indians. more ›

After watching lead after lead disintegrate last season, the Mets front-office has long said that addressing their bullpen would be an offseason priority. If reports are true, the brass has treated it as such. Francisco Rodriguez and the Mets appear close to a three-year deal, according to SI.com's Jon Heyman. Reports say it will be worth three years and $37 million. The good news? That's less than the five-year deals that fueled speculation earlier this offseason. Rodriguez is not old and three years at that rate is a steal. Mariano Rivera is making $45 million over three seasons, and he is 39, not the 27 Rodriguez will be in January. Mets fans need to remember, however, that Rodriguez is not the best closer in baseball. He also hasn't gone more than one inning in a regular season game since 2007. more ›