Results tagged “jjputz”

• Yankees 8 Texas 6: Chien-Ming Wang had his best start of the season. Then again, considering the disasters his first three starts were, that isn’t saying much. Wang allowed five runs over 4-2/3 innings, which sadly lowered his ERA, but that wasn’t the real story. What was the story was a great comeback from New York. Down 5-1, the Yankees rallied thanks to a bases-clearing double from Mark Teixeira and they won the game thanks to a two-run home run from Melky Cabrera. Rivera came in for the save and New York has now won seven of it’s last eight series.
• Pittsburgh 11 Mets 6: Usually scoring six runs is enough to win, but not when your starting pitcher can’t keep you in the game. Mike Pelfrey was awful, allowing nine runs- eight earned, and the lowly Pirates swept the Mets. To make matters much worse, Jose Reyes has a tear in his hamstring and J.J. Putz will probably need elbow surgery. Depending on the result of tonight’s Phillies game in San Diego, New York will be either three or four games back in the NL East.
• Washington 2 Red Bulls 0: Another loss as the season drags on for New York. They played a tough match and trailed only by a goal until the final minute when a penalty kick gave D.C. the final edge.

• Mets 3 Florida 2: John Maine did his job, but JJ Putz almost gave the game away. Leading 3-0, thanks to RBI doubles from Pagan, Martinez and Santos, Putz got into big trouble giving up a walk and two singles before being lifted from the game. Bobby Parnell came in and gave up a run, but got the Mets out of the jam with help from a great play by David Wright. Frankie Rodriguez pitched around a walk to record his 14th save.

• Yankees 5, Phillies 4: Hope you didn't donate that old "Got Melky?" t-shirt you bought a couple years back because it looks like it might be a hot item once again this summer. Melky Cabrera had his third game-winning hit of the young season yesterday with an RBI single off of Phillies' closer Brad Lidge to cap off another dramatic win in the Bronx. The Yanks came into the 9th down by two runs, but that lead was quickly erased when A-Rod took a full count fastball and sent it over everyone's favorite right field fence. After the game, Rodriguez called himself "the happiest .200 hitter in baseball," since seven of the ten total hits he has since returning have left the ballpark.
• Mets 3, Red Sox 2: After the Yankees disposed of last year's World Series champs and their star closer, the Mets pulled the same trick on the 2007 champs and their premiere stopper. Met catcher Omir Santos may have needed a little help from instant replay to record his second career home run, but that didn't take away much excitement from the two-run shot that handed Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon his first blown save of the year. The home run was originally ruled a double, only to be corrected in the first replay review in Fenway history. Until the big ninth inning hit, the Boston crowd had watched a pitcher's duel between Josh Beckett and Mike Pelfrey that hadn't seen any runs put on the board since the first inning. In the bottom of the ninth, the Mets had to turn to JJ Putz to finish things off as Francisco Rodriguez became their latest casualty to sit out with an injury, suffering through back spasms.

• 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.

That left things up to the bullpen and the trio of Green, Putz and K-Rod allowed only one baserunner over the final 3-1/3. Daniel Murphy was the hitting star, getting two RBI’s one on a homer and one on a groundout.

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.

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.