Results tagged “josevalentin”

The Yankees and Mets head into today’s trade deadline with similar objectives, upgrading their bullpens, but the Mets have already strengthened their team.

- Yankees 8, Twins 1: Doing well against a potential first round opponent is never a bad thing. Unfortunately for the Yankees, they weren't facing one of the Twins' aces yesterday. Fortunately, it looks like Alex Rodriguez might be coming out of his slump. A-Rod got the Yankees off to a good start with a solo home run in the 2nd inning and later added another solo shot in the 7th. There was even a bases-loaded single in a four-run Yankee fifth inning. It was the 2nd game in a row that Rodriguez had a home run and the first time since July 1st and 2nd, good enough to earn him a curtain call. Corey Lidle pitched six shutout innings for his 3rd win as a Yankee.

- Mets 11, Rockies 3: Would it be safe to say that David Wright is out of his slump? We'll see when he leaves the friendly atmosphere of Colorado, but last night it certainly looked like it. Wright had a grand slam in the 1st inning against Josh Fogg. Jose Valentin added to the offensive production with two solo home runs of his own and Carlos Delgado had his own solo shot. Dave Williams pitched seven innings for the win, his second with the Mets. The win gave the Mets the best record in all of baseball.

- Mets 6, Nationals 4: John Maine's scoreless inning streak surely couldn't last. Former Yankee Nick Johnson ended the streak at 26 with a home run in the 4th inning of last night's win against the Nationals. Maine's chance of winning his third game ended in the 6th inning when the Nationals scored 3 runs, chasing him from the game. The Mets scored two in the 7th to break a 4-4 tie with RBI from Jose Valentin and Michael Tucker. Billy Wagner pitched a perfect 9th inning for his 27th save of the season. And for those readers that like to place the Mets in the AL East for comparison (not sure why you would) - their 70 wins would put them atop the Yankees.

-Mets 1, Cubs 0: It took ten innings before Jose Valentin's RBI single plated the game's first, and deciding run. With the win, the Mets avoided a sweep at home to the Cubs, which would have been harmlessly embarassing. Instead, they saw John Maine pitch another dominant outing (even if the Derrek Lee-less Cubs don't send up a credible lineup) and make a case for a prolonged stay in the starting rotation. With Orlando Hernandez and Steven Trachsel struggling, Maine could be the third starter in the playoffs. Or he could be looking in if these two starts against weak lineups are flukes.

-Mets 8 Reds 3: Carlos Beltran became the first player in four years and the first Met since Robin Ventura to hit grand slams in consecutive games. Beltran’s blast broke open a 3-2 game and ensured Mike Pelfry of his second win. Xavier Nady and Jose Valentin also went deep for New York.

- Marlins 3, Mets 2: John Maine was the tough-luck loser yesterday in the first game of yesterday's doubleheader against the Marlins. Maine allowed only 6 hits over 6 innings, but three of those hits were home runs. The Mets didn't offer up much run support in the loss, getting only 3 hits.

-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.

Oooh. The Mets have unloaded Kazuo Matsui to the Colorado Rockies for a bucket of balls. Actually, no. In return, the Mets get utilityman Eli Marrero. Marrero has played at catcher, first base, and in the outfield this season. Matsui, who started the season in extended spring training, joined the team after Anderson Hernandez was injured. While with the Mets this season, Matsui's shoddy defense improved, but his bat was still as dead as ever. In 130 at-bats, Matsui is right at the Mendoza line, hitting .200 with one home run and seven RBI. The homer came on his first at-bat of the season, something he's done for three straight years. When Matsui joined the Mets in 2004, he proclaimed "I love New York." We wonder if he's saying "I love Colorado Springs" right now. And he was clearly expendable to the Mets when Jose Valentin showed that he was much more useful offensively.

-Yankees 2 Boston 1: No Matsui, Sheffield or Jeter; no problem. You may think the Yankees’ offense isn’t what it used to be, but it still can draw a key walk or get a key hit to provide the win. Tuesday, it was Jason Giambi who walked with the bases loaded to provide the winning run.

-Giants 7 Mets 6 12inn: It was a game that had a lot of familiar events. Armando Benitez blowing a save and the Mets coming back in dramatic fashion, but the ending was different. Jose Valentin and Lastings Milledge homered in the tenth off of Benitez to bring New York back from a 6-4 deficit, but Pedro Feliz knocked in the winning run in the twelfth to give the Giants a series win.