Results tagged “marlins”

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 six-run fourth, and the Mets never looked back. The bullpen, despite Matt Wise's hiccups, put forth two scoreless innings.

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...

Continue reading "Last Night's Action: One More Day"

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 Mets have let a playoffs appearance escape from their control. Last night's game was almost emblematic of the horror show that has aired early before Halloween. Superstar David Wright couldn't locate third base for a force out. Faced with loaded bases, pitcher Oliver Perez hit two batters with errant throws.

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 - May 15th! How did they get to where they are now? Starting on Sept. 14th, the Mets went 4-10, including a 5-game losing streak and a 4-game losing streak. It didn't help that the Phillies went on a tear during the same stretch of games, including a three-game sweep of the Mets.

How this team breaks out of these doldrums is hard to imagine. The Mets only got one runner to second base in Thursday’s loss and had only four base runners in the game. The offense hasn’t scored in fourteen innings and you already know about the bullpen. The good news, if there is any, is that Florida is coming to town this weekend. The Mets took three-of-four from them on the road last weekend, so they know how to beat the Marlins and now they have to.

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 will have been decided. Does this mean MLB.com can cancel your order if the Mets fail to win their division?

• 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 loved at all, but that doesn't help the Yankees' bullpen in advance of Saturday's game. Mariano Rivera, Joba Chamberlain and Luis Vizcaino all threw scoreless innings in relief before Brian Bruney allowed the go-ahead run. Boston took care of Tampa Bay on Friday, increasing its lead to 2 1/2 games in the American League East. The Yankees' margin of error in that department just went from small to smaller.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Extra Innings Not Worth It"

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 the Mets in the top of the inning. Then Sosa gave up the winning run all by himself in the 10th. Why is Sosa in there? Because everyone else stinks or had been used, frankly. After seeing the right-hander struggle so frequently of late, Manager Willie Randolph still didn't look for another option.

• 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.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Break Out The Brooms"

• 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 each Yankees starter had a hit, Jose Molina had four hits and Derek Jeter had three for the 2nd night in a row. The home runs by A-Rod continues his streak of home runs against Cleveland this year. He's now hit one in each of the five Yankees-Indians games this season.
• Marlins 7, Mets 5: It was looking good for win #301 for Tom Glavine until the Mets bullpen entered the game. Handed a 3-1 lead in the 7th inning, Guillermo Mota proceeded to load the bases full of fish (he inherited 1 runner, to be fair) before giving up a grand slam to Josh Willingham. The Mets bailed Mota out in the bottom of the 7th, scoring two runs to tie the game, but Aaron Heilman was quick to give the Marlins the lead again in the 8th inning. David Wright had two home runs (two-run and solo) to the left field bleachers in the loss.
• Doubledays 3, Cyclones 0: Auburn took the lead with a two-run bases loaded single in the 1st and never looked back. Brett Cecil and three relievers held the Cyclones to five hits in the victory.

• 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 as impressive as Hughes, if not more so, was Joba Chamberlain who pitched perfect 7th and 8th innings. Chamberlain picked up one strikeout in the 7th before striking out the side in the 8th. The win put the Yankees in a tie for first-place in the Wild Card standings and gave them the same record as the Mets (not that it matters).
• Marlins 4, Mets 3: Perhaps it was the cold weather that pushed Billy Wagner into the blown save territory last night. Wagner, who hasn't exactly inspired confidence recently, blew only his 2nd save of the season. Wagner allowed a two-run double by Hanley Ramirez in the 9th to spoil the return of Carlos Beltran from an oblique strain. Beltran had the go-ahead, three-run homer in the 5th inning, but the Mets were unable to capitalize on a night that the Braves loss.
• Cyclones 4, Doubledays 3: Brooklyn won its third straight game last night by defeating the Doubledays. The Cyclones took the lead in the 7th with a two runs in the inning. Doubledays starter Marc Rzepczynski had a career high 10 strike outs in six innings of work.

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.

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 into run for him and promptly stole second. He scored on a botched fielder’s choice and then the floodgates opened. Reyes and Chavez singled home runs and Carlos Beltran doubled to make it 6-1. Only some nifty relief pitching by Randy Messenger kept the Mets from doing more damage, but they had scored enough even though Billy Wagner pitched a shaky ninth.

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 the goal and the Garden erupted when the tally was put on the scoreboard.

-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 start? Whatever the answer, with the Cardinals loss last night, the Mets are assured of home field advantage until the World Series.

-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 to set his rotation and rest his regulars. Torre also thinks Mariano Rivera could pitch again by the weekend. The strained ligament in Rivera's elbow got the closer some much-needed rest. He's vital -- of course -- to the Yankees' playoff chances.

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 a league so easily.

-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.

- 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.

-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 keeps people off base via the free pass.

-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 Yankees in the game. It's not worth the $7 million a year he's making, but it's betterr than Sidney Ponson.

- 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.