Photo of Johan Santana pitching against the Marlins by AP/J. Pat Carter The rain that postponed the Yankees' regular-season opener was nowhere to be found in South Florida, where the Mets disposed of the Marlins, 7-2, to start their eagerly awaited 2008 campaign. Johan Santana, living up to the trade and subsequent contract extension that made him a Met, struck out eight in seven innings of two-run ball. David Wright's three-run double capped a......

If Barry Melrose ever goes to Newark, he probably won't be getting a warm reception. Melrose, a hockey analyst for ESPN and a former player and manager, said some disparaging words about the city of Newark when talking about the new Devils arena on his webcast last week. Melrose said, "It looks great on the inside but don't go outside, especially if you got a wallet or anything else because the area around the building......

Mets 13, Marlins 0: For once, optimism abounds. John Maine struck out 14 and took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning -- he lost it on a bleeder up the third-base line -- to guide the Mets back into a tie for first place. For once, the Mets roughed up a pitcher they needed to rough up. If they hadn't gotten to Chris Seddon, they probably didn't deserve to make the playoffs. Even though......

A few months ago, a more unlikely scenario could not be imagined. The Yankees are barreling into the playoffs after recovering from one of the team's worst season starts in franchise history. The Mets, on the other hand, are staggering towards the end of the season having lost five straight and 11 of their last 15 games. A seemingly insurmountable lead in their division has been whittled to second place behind the Phillies, and the......

Marlins 7, Mets 4: Who thought this bad dream would last this long? Needing a quality start from Oliver Perez to stop their bleeding, the Mets instead got a vintage -- as in 2005 -- effort in their fifth straight loss. Not even Byung-Hyun Kim could play the platelet to the Mets' open wound. The Marlins righty kept the Mets in check, and Oliver Perez lost control at the most critical points. Even David Wright,......

It took the Mets a little more than two weeks, but they've somehow managed to squander a seven-game lead in the National League East. Since September 12th, the lead has slowly gotten smaller and is now zero, zilch, zip, nadda, nil. With three games left in the regular season, the Mets are tied with the Phillies for first in the NL East. The last time the Mets weren't in sole possession of first place......

St. Louis 3 Mets 0: And so it has come to this, with three games left in the year the Mets are now tied for first with the Phillies. A seven-game lead has evaporated in two weeks and with the Padres winning tonight, missing the playoffs has become a very real possibility. How this team breaks out of these doldrums is hard to imagine. The Mets only got one runner to second base in Thursday’s......

You probably won't catch any Mets fans or anyone associated with the club purchasing these yet, but MLB.com already has the New York Mets 2007 NL East Division Champions Roster T-Shirt up for sale on its website. Talk about counting your eggs way before they're hatched. The shirts aren't even available for pre-sale only, but are "in stock and ready to leave the warehouse" in 4-6 business days! Hmm...in 4-6 days, the NL East......

Mets 7, Marlins 6 (11 innings): A third straight win has pushed thoughts of panic to the back burner. Philadelphia lost, meaning the Mets' lead is 2 1/2. Stranger things have happened, but the Mets have buckled up in the driver's seat in the National League East. Please support David Wright for the MVP award. He put the team ahead in the 11th after another poor performance from the relievers. That bullpen still has to......

Blue Jays 5, Yankees 4 (14 innings): If they knew their four-run rally in the ninth inning would only result in a 14-inning loss, maybe they wouldn't have been so excited when they produced that unexpected effort. Roy Halladay hardly had to exert himself over the first eight innings, but some shoddy defense and timely hitting in the ninth undid all that.They always say it's better to have loved and lost than to never have......

Marlins 8, Mets 7 (10 innings): Taking a three-run lead into the bottom of the ninth against the Marlins should be no problem right? Not when Billy Wagner is mysteriously absent -- the Mets later said he was having back spasms -- and his replacements are the not-so-capable Pedro Feliciano and the highly inflammable Jorge Sosa. They combined to cough up the lead in the bottom of the ninth, ruining a dramatic comeback posted by......

Yankees 5 Cleveland 3: New York has passed the first big test on their current schedule, sweeping Cleveland and improving to 15-games over .500. Sunday’s win was the toughest of the series as Andy Pettitte and Jake Westbrook locked into a pitcher’s duel for the first part of the game before the Yankees jumped out to a 4-0 lead. But, Cleveland made things interesting in the ninth. Trailing 5-2, Cleveland got three-straight hits off of......

Yankees 11, Indians 2: We thought things were supposed to be tougher for the Yankees when they played winning teams, but that doesn't seem to be the case. While Mike Mussina allowed one run in the first inning, the Yankees scored all they would need in the second when they tagged Paul Byrd for 7 runs. The inning included a two-run homer by Alex Rodriguez, who added another two-run shot in the 8th inning. While......

Yankees 6, Indians 1: The Yankees played well against the soft part of their schedule and last night, against an actual playoff contender, they continued their recent winning ways (they've won 20 of the last 27 games). In his second start since returning from a May leg injury, Hughes, a key player in the future of the Yankees rotation, pitched brilliantly. He allowed only one run over 6 innings to the AL Central-leading Indians. Equally......

The Wall Street Journal has an absolutely hysterical/mortifying column today about what happens when one's boss wants to be your "friend" on an online site like MySpace or Facebook. Normally reserved for friends or total strangers, members feel free to share compromising photos or statements on the site. So what does one do when a "Michael Scott"-like boss wants to get tight with his employees and invites you to be in his Friendster circle? Refusing......

Mets 6 Marlins 4: It is the best of times for the Mets. 32-17, best record in the National League and fresh off a sweep of the Marlins. Sunday’s win was a balanced effort with Jorge Sosa giving a solid start, the bullpen doing its job and the offense taking advantage of seven walks. Damion Easley showed his versatility, starting in left field and contributing 2 hits. Five different Mets had a RBI and the......

Mets 7, Marlins 2: Reports of Carlos Delgado's demise have been greatly exaggerated. At least for now. He hit two home runs as the Mets romped past the Marlins and moved 3 1/2 games in front of the Braves in the National League East. Delgado's poor play -- he has fewer homers than Damion Easley, after all -- had been a source of concern for the Mets. But his two-homer game backed John Maine,......

Mets 6 Florida 2: El Duque came off of the DL and looked as if he had discovered an elixir of youth. For six innings he kept the Marlins completely off-balance, striking out four and allowing only one hit. The problem was Florida’s pitchers were also shutting down the Mets. That all changed in the ninth. After trading runs in the eighth, the Mets started the inning with Delgado earning a walk. Carlos Gomez came......

Senators 3, Devils 2: The good news is that the Devils scored. When that qualifies as a positive development, things probably aren't going well. They didn't score enough, and now they are facing elimination and a 3-1 series deficit. The pivotal play came when Dany Heatley took a shot from the right boards and knocked it into the net off Martin Brodeur's skate, giving Ottawa a 2-1 lead at the time. Hot goalies often win......

Senators 2, Devils 0: So much for the momentum of an overtime win from Saturday. New Jersey looked sluggish and couldn't cash in on its scoring threats. The Devils now trail this series two games to one. They had only 25 shots overall, went 0-for-5 on the power play and wasted another solid effort from Martin Broduer. Game 4, set for Wednesday, becomes almost a must-win. Marlins 9, Mets 6: Things aren't going right if......

Yankees 8, Indians 6: All that talk of Alex Rodriguez's problems in important -- so-called "clutch" -- spots seems to be a thing of the past. So did the Yankees third baseman suddenly discover the ability to perform when it matters, or did people give him too hard a time to begin with? He doesn't seem to care. The Yankees entered the ninth inning down by four runs, and the first two men in the......

Rangers 4 Atlanta 2: The Rangers finished off their sweep of the Thrashers in dramatic fashion, coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to finally take the lead on a goal that had to be reviewed for over five minutes. Five minutes into the third period, Matt Cullen unleashed a vicious slapshot that caromed off the top crossbar and appeared to bounce out of the crease. Replays showed the puck had bounced down into......

-Marlins 5 Mets 2: It was a better effort from Pedro, but with only one start left for him before the playoffs, Mets’ fans should be worried. Martinez struck out seven, but tired in the fifth inning and ended up taking the loss. He threw only 87 pitches before leaving, a figure that will not allow him to pitch very deep into any game. The question is, can he regain his stamina before the playoffs......

-Yankees 6, Blue Jays 3: Bobby Abreu's home run and Johnny Damon's run-saving catch helped the Yankees down -- and elminate -- the Blue Jays in Tuesday's win. The Yankees reduced their magic number for clinching the American League East to one. That's one Yankees win or Red Sox loss. Home-field advantage is still at stake for the Yanks -- they lead Detroit by two games -- but Joe Torre will use an early clinch......

With their victory over the Marlins on Monday, the Mets secured their first division title since 1988 and their first playoff berth since 2000. Two years ago, they were a laughingstock, but aggressive contracts and young stars have given the Mets the best team in the National League. Of course, an early departure in the playoffs might sour the season for the fans, but such is the life of a team that romped through......

-Yankees 12, Devil Rays 4: For eight innings, the margin of victory would have been more than the Yanks' magic number, which dropped to nine with the win. Hideki Matsui returned, went 4-for-4 with a walk and Mike Mussina pitched effectively. Both develepments should make Yankees fans smile. Some might have tuned out though, since Bobby Abreu knocked in six runs during a nine-run Yankees first inning. -Mets 6, Marlins 4: The Mets staged a......

- Marlins 4, Mets 1: Pedro Martinez was strong in his 2nd start since coming off the disabled list, but the Mets offense was unable to offer him much run support off of Dontrelle Willis and the Marlins. Pedro pitched six innings and only allowed four hits and one run. The Marlins ended a 1-1 tie in the 8th inning with Miguel Cabrera's bases clearing triple. While the Mets may have lost against the......

-Mets 6, Marlins 5: A night after blowing a save and giving up a walk-off homer, Billy Wagner worked out of a jam to seal the Mets' win over the Marlins. Good thing, too, because the Mets would not have enjoyed blowing a six-run lead. Wagner hasn't been lucky this year, but he hasn't helped himself by allowing five homers and 18 walks in 49 1/3 innings. His strikeouts will only help him if he......

-Yankees 5, Blue Jays 1: Bobby Abreu's walk set up a bases-clearing tiebreaking double by Bernie Williams, and the Yankees won the opener against Toronto. Abreu didn't have a hit in his three at-bats, but his patience fits in with the rest of the Yankees lineup and will be an asset for the team, even if he doesn't hit for power. Jaret Wright gave a typical performance. He lasted only five innings and kept the......

- 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 17, Marlins 3: All the offense the Mets were lacking in game 1 against the Marlins came out in......