Results tagged “joesmith”

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.

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!"

• Yankees 6, Blue Jays 1: Roger Clemens gave up a run in the first and didn't dazzle anyone with his brilliance during six innings, but that first-inning strike was all the Blue Jays would get. They would go on to rue their missed opportunities after Shaun Marcum controlled the Yankees for six innings before Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run double to start a four-run eighth.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Gaining Ground"

• Yankees 8, Twins 0: On a night where the Yankees shut out the Twins, perhaps the best news on the evening was that Alex Rodriguez played. A day after straining his hamstring against the Twins, A-Rod returned to the lineup and went 0-4, but also started a double play in the 4th inning to help keep the Twins off the scoreboard. Chien-Ming Wang didn't have his best stuff, but he was still good enough to shutout the Twins over the 7 innings he pitched. Wang only allowed 4 hits in his first win in three starts.
• Rockies 11, Mets 3: What is it with New York baseball teams playing in Denver? The Yankees couldn't win there and so far this series, neither can the Mets. Mets pitchers set out to give the fans at the game a good show on fireworks night at Coors Field. After chasing triple A call-up Jason Vargas out of the game in the fourth inning, Ryan Spilborghs hit a grand slam off of Joe Smith. Colorado had two other home runs in the game as well. All told, Colorado managed 18 hits in the game. After staring their road trip with three straight wins, the Mets have now lost three in a row. Adding insult to injury, former Met shortstop/second baseman Kaz Matsui had a big night, going 5-5 at the plate. Some good news for the Mets though - Pedro Martinez looked good in a simulated start and could be back in August.
• Cyclones 2, Ironbirds 1: The Cyclones scored a run in the 8th inning to break a 1-1 tie and come away with the win.

• Yankees 13 Pirates 6: It’s official, the Yankees are on fire. Sunday they completed their sweep of the Pirates, bludgeoning them behind two home runs from Alex Rodriguez and a 4-4 day from Bobby Abreu. The win was their sixth in a row and leaves them one game below .500 and 9 ½ back in the division.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Runs Galore"

For the first time ever, the MLB First-Year Player Draft was televised. ESPN2 covered the first round and while they gave it the same treatment that the NFL and NBA drafts get, it is hard to get excited about a bunch of players from high school and college that you have never seen in your life. When all was said and done, 1,453 players were picked and can now all say they were drafted.

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.