Photograph of Hal Gil (center) going after the Rangers' Sean Avery, with goalie Marc Andre Fleury and linesman Lonnie Cameron trying to stop him, by Gene J. Puskar/AP Penguins 2, Rangers 0: Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin skated past Marc Staal before giving up the puck to Jordan Staal, who scored the deciding goal in this nailbiter in Western Pennsylvania. That second-period strike plus an empty-netter put the Penguins in complete control of this series before......

Phillies 5, Mets 2: In a game that was a microcosm of last season, the Mets held a lead against the Phillies before surrendering it in inglorious fashion. Entrusted with a 2-0 advantage in the seventh inning, Scott Schoeneweis -- who was booed during introductions -- allowed three runs and only recorded one out. Of course, he didn't get help from Carlos Delgado, who hit Chase Utley in the back on what may have......

For all the noise of this Yankees offseason, as far as the team on the field goes, all it amounted to was the status quo. Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera are all back -- and richer. Young pitchers Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and center fielder Melky Cabrera didn't go to the Twins for Johan Santana. The 2008 Yankees will be a slightly older albeit considerably more expensive version of the 2007 team. And......

Mark Messier will forever be remembered for delivering the Stanley Cup to the Rangers in 1994, his famous guarantee before Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals that year and a tendency to cry in public. The captain had his number retired by both Edmonton and New York and is the only player ever to captain two teams to a Stanley Cup victory and he was second all-time in points scored in NHL history. Scott......

Well, it didn't take long for Joe Torre to find a new job (not that it should have). He's trading The Bronx for Chavez Ravine and "fans" like Rudy Giuliani for Posh Spice. The Post is reporting that the former Yankees manager has agreed in principle to a three-year $14.5 million deal (hopefully there are no performance incentives) to be the next manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He would be replacing Grady Little, who......

Assuming MLB gives them permission, the Yankees will probably announce their next manager tomorrow. The team has conducted three interviews and according to Hank “Liitle Stein” Steinbrenner, that’s all they plan on doing. So, let’s take a look at the three candidates. First up there is the long shot, Tony Pena. Pena joined the Yankees two seasons ago as Joe Torre’s first base coach, but his biggest impact was on Jorge Posada. Under Pena’s tutelage,......

Welcome to the first day of the Yankees’ offseason, buckle your seatbelts this is going to be a wild ride. While it is 99.9% certain that the Yankees are going to have a new manager for 2008, his identity remains a mystery. Joe Girardi, Don Mattingly and Tony LaRussa are the top names you hear, but remember in 1995 the Yankees shocked a lot of people when they chose Torre, so don’t be surprised if......

Tonight, the Yankees will face off against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium, and many hope the Bronx Bombers can avoid the sweep (and mayflies) and claw their way back to winning this first round of playoff games. Since things are so nerve-wracking, we thought some Yankees fans - and even haters - might be find this Village Voice story funny. Found amongst the paperwork that showed how the Yankees were basically billing the city......

Cleveland 2 Yankees 1 (11 innings): Baseball has had many weird games and plays in its history, but it is hard to think of a more bizarre scene than Jacobs Field in the eighth inning last night. Swarms of mayflies descended on the stadium, disrupting play and perhaps affecting Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain, called in to protect a 1-0 lead in the seventh was swamped by the insects and suffered an uncharacteristic bout of wildness. Two......

IIndians 12, Yankees 3: Well, that didn't go as planned. Chien-Ming Wang didn't have his sinker, gave up a ton of two-out and two-strike hits, and the Yankees got buried. Their patient bats wore out C.C. Sabathia, but they only got three runs for their efforts against him, and that wasn't nearly enough given the way Wang pitched. Then they stunk up the joint against the Indians bullpen, but by them the game was......

Yankees 9 Toronto 2: Alex Rodriguez didn’t hit a home run, ending his streak at five-straight games. He did manage two hits, but it was some other Yankees that shouldered the offensive load for a change. 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......

Yankees 6 Royals 3: At this point, the YES Network should just play a “ch-ching” sound everytime A-Rod steps up to the plate. After hitting a home run for the 5th-consecutive game on Sunday, A-Rod has 52 for the season, the most for a Yankee since Mantle and Maris hit 54 and 61 in 1961. He also has 138 RBI’s with 19 games left, which puts him in line to have the most RBI’s as......

Yankees 3 Kansas City 2: It wasn’t always pretty and it was too close for comfort, but in the end the Yankees got the job done. Alex Rodriguez got things going in the second with his 49th home run of the year and Jorge Posada added his 19th to put the Yankees up 2-0. But, Ian Kennedy struggled with his command, walking three in the first and then allowing four hits in the second to......

Yankees 12, Mariners 3: Chien-Ming Wang doesn't deserve the American League Cy Young award, but he should get some lower votes. In a game the Yankees needed to win to keep their wild-card lead, Wang pitched 7 1/3 innings and kept the Mariners under wraps. That came as a welcome development after the Yankees learned that Roger Clemens will need a cortisone shot in his pitching elbow. Why was he out there Monday anyway? Horacio......

Angels 7 Yankees 6 (10 innings):Extr Up and down, up and down, this game kept spinning. Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run homer to put New York ahead, but the Angels came back. Jorge Posada hit a homer to tie things up in the eighth, but the Angels wouldn’t relent. They made things very interesting in the bottom of the ninth, but Mariano escaped a huge jam. Unfortunately, that left him unable to pitch the tenth......

Yankees 8, White Sox 1: Jorge Posada predicted Tuesday after the Yankees went deep eight times that Alex Rodriguez would hit two homers Wednesday. Rodriguez didn't come through -- he went 0-for-4 -- but Posada did. The underappreciated Yankees catcher hit two of five Yankees blasts as the Yankees won their third straight game. Rodriguez, on the other hand, can't seem to join the party. He's gone 0 for his last 21 to tie the......

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 6, Blue Jays 4: The Yankees used some home runs and a bloop single to beat Toronto. Alex Rodriguez hit his 32nd home run of the season and career home run number 496, but it was Andy Phillips who delivered the go-ahead runs. With two outs in the 6th inning, Phillips broke a tie game with bloop single to center, scoring Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano. The two teams combined for six home runs......

The Yankees don't talk about new contracts with their players during the season. That was their policy with Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and with Alex Rodriguez. At least before the season started. What a difference a half season makes because the Yankees have changed the policy for their All-Star third baseman. The team hopes to meet with A-Rod's agent Scott Boras in the next few weeks to discuss an extension. Rodriguez currently has three years......

Jose Reyes did all he could for the National League in Tuesday's All-Star Game in San Francisco, but his team was still undone by the American League's best. Reyes played eight innings, had three hits and a run scored, but that wasn't enough. Perhaps his best performance came when he pulled back his fist from Carlos Beltran and David Wright during the pregame introductions. Billy Wagner's performance might have been the most damaging. The Mets......

Mets 6, Phillies 5; Mets 5, Phillies 2: Things couldn't have gone much better for the Mets. Brothers Carlos, who have been struggling of late, combined for three homers. Orlando Hernandez and John Maine combined to hold the Phillies in check. New York leads Philadelphia by five games in the National League East. Of all the developments, Beltran's and Delgado's homers have to be the most welcome. Billy Wagner also deserves plenty of recognition, even......

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......

Twins 9, Mets 0: Jorge Sosa has had good starts this season, but this wasn't one of them. The defense has played near flawless baseball, but it didn't Tuesday. The Mets offense has had its ups and downs, but its efforts in this loss rank among the season's worst. The Mets managed four hits, got only one runner to second base and made Johan Santana, albiet an American League Cy Young Award winner, throw only......

Yankees 9, Red Sox 5: Now the Yankees only trail their rivals in the American League East by 12 1/2 games. They rocked Tim Wakefield -- again -- and then held on for a 9-5 win in the first of three games at Fenway Park this weekend. A four-run sixth, including a three-run double by Jorge Posada, didn't hurt. Wakefield has been great against the American League this season but not against the Yankees, against......

Boston 7, Yankees 3: The Yankees meager two-game win streak against the two best teams in baseball ended last night as Mike Mussina was manhandled by Boston's lineup. Mike Mussina gave up 7 runs on 10 hits over 6 2/3 innings of pitching before being yanked by Torre and Guidry. That could have been overcome given the team's propensity to score, but the Yankees could only manage three runs off four hits against Julian......

Rangers 14 Yankees 2: In many ways you could see this one coming. How often can one team beat another team? The Yankees have feasted on Texas for the past two years. How long could the streak of great starting pitching last? Since last Friday, the Yankees had an ERA of 1.34 for their starters. All of these streaks came to an end when Texas bludgeoned New York for 14 runs Thursday afternoon. It was......

With the Yankees' win over the Red Sox yesterday that ended a 7-game losing streak, it seems that Yankees manager Joe Torre can breathe easily - for the moment. Torre answered questions about his job security before the game with aplomb, saying, "For me to say 'this,' 'this' or 'this,' I don't want to pawn it off and say it's not my fault. I'm in charge here. If you're going to enjoy the good......

Red Sox 11 Yankees 4: Just how bad is it going to get in Yankeeland? Not only are they in last place, five games under .500 and losers of seven-straight, but also there are reports that the Dolans are trying to buy the team. Their starting pitching is completely broken and Mariano Rivera can’t get an out. The offense is now slumping and the bullpen imploding from overuse. Steinbrenner is reportedly ready to fire Joe......

The Yankees owe a lot of things to Bernie Williams for his great play the past 16 years, but they do not owe him a roster spot for 2007. Bernie can no longer play defense and his offense has eroded to the point that he is only viable against left-handed pitching. But, the Yankees still invited him to camp and instead of accepting or declining, Bernie has gone into hiding. Joe Torre and Jorge......

Jerry Reese didn’t waste any time remaking the Giants. On Monday he cut three players, all starters, as part of a roster overhaul. While it is hard to argue with waiving Carlos Emmons, a disapointment in his time as a Giant, and LaVar Arrington, a great talent who could not stay healthy, the cut of Luke Petitgout is interesting. Petitgout was also injured last year, but he was the only guy on the roster who......