-Yankees 4 Tampa Bay 1: While New York spent most of September marching toward another division championship, there was one thought in the back of their minds. When will Mariano come back? Rivera had been sidelined since the end of August with a forearm strain and everyone knows that he is truly the indispensable Yankee come October. While we won’t know for sure until tomorrow, his return seems on track. Rivera struck out the side with a broken-bat single and a hit batter wedged in between.
- Mets 4, Phillies 3: Since June 23rd, Tom Glavine was stuck on career win number 286, but thanks to Philly starter Jon Lieber, he was finally able to move one win closer to #300. Glavine and the Mets trailed the Phillies by two runs after one inning but took the lead in the 6th inning when Lieber threw away what should have been the third out of the inning. Prior to the error, Lieber retired 17 straight batters. Aaron Heilman pitched a perfect 8th inning and Billy Wagner picked up his 24th save.
-Yankees 5 Braves 2: As the Yankees continue to lose position players to injury, their pitching becomes more and more important. Monday night, Randy Johnson stepped up and delivered seven shutout innings and Jason Giambi hit two home runs to power the Yankees’ lineup.
-Reds 6 Mets 5: Jose Reyes recorded the first cycle in the majors this year, but Billy Wagner blew the save and the Mets lost. Wagner got the first two outs of the ninth, but then walked Austin Kearns and David Ross and gave up back-to-back singles to Rich Aurilia and Brandon Phillips. Carlos Beltran led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk, but Carlos Delgado flied out and David Wright grounded into a double play to end the game. The Mets finish their homestand tomorrow before heading to Toronto.
- Mets 15, D iamondbacks 2: Pedro Martinez has waited a long time for his sixth win (since April 28), and the Mets didn't want their bullpen to have a chance to blow it. So they scored 15 runs and swept four games from Arizona, who entered the series leading the NL West (they've since dropped to second). The Mets continue to lead the NL East.
-Mets and the Giants PPD: The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Saturday, giving fans two chances to let Barry know how they feel.
Here’s a little piece of advice for Brian Cashman: make sure to build a real bench when you put together the 2007 Yankees. You would think that $190 million would mean you don’t need to rely on Kelly Stinnett or Miguel Cairo in key situations, but that is what the Yankees are about right now.
Billy, it’s Metallica on the phone, they want their song back. Actually, you have bigger problems than a stupid song, you just threw your manager under the bus after blowing a 4-0 lead in the ninth. You were “surprised” to be used in that situation? Don’t you think for $11-million a year Willie Randolph should be able to choose when and how often he uses you?
If the ceremonies at the end of the season and the trade for Paul Lo Duca didn't make it clear enough, it's now official. The Mets will not be re-signing Mike Piazza (at least until May 1st) as they declined to offer salary arbitration, effectively ending his eight-year stint with the team. The 37 year-old Hall of Fame bound catcher hit only .251 with 19 home runs and 62 RBI last season. The .251 average was his worst since entering the Majors in 1992. In all likelihood, Piazza is now on his way to an American League team to be a designated hitter.
The Mets won despite some Bad News Bear-like action on the basepaths. Gothamist has seen softball leagues with better baserunning. With the bases loaded and no outs in the 6th inning and a chance to blow the game open. While they did manage to score 3 runs, it seemed like there was a chance for many more. Ramon Castro was thrown out at first base for the 1st out after a ball hit David Wright in the back. Livan Hernandez, who happened to be in the wrong place at the right time, out of position and backing up the catcher in of the plate, picked up the ball and threw out Castro at first as he rounded the bag. The other two outs came on a double play to Jose Guillen in right field. Miguel Cairo hit a fly ball to short right field that Guillen caught and doubled up Marlon Anderson with.
A 9th inning rally by the Mets put their only runs on the game, but was stopped short when Brian Daubach flied out to end the game with the tying run at 3rd. Gothamist has no idea why Willie Randolph turned to Daubach, who is hitting a stellar .087, and not Miguel Cairo who was on deck when the final out was made.
Even if the Yankees don’t beat Pedro Martinez, they seem to win whenever he pitches against them. Martinez could hardly be blamed in Sunday’s 5-3 Yankee victory. He pitched seven innings of one-run baseball, only to see his defense and bullpen blow the lead in the 8th. With better play in the field, the Mets could have swept the Yankees. Instead they dropped two out of three to the still-surging Yankees, who have won 12 of 14.
Koo wasn’t the only hero for the Mets. Kris Benson was brilliant over six innings allowing only three hits, before tiring and giving way to Koo with a runner on in the seventh. Former Yankee, Miguel Cairo, also homered for the Mets whose fans suffered a nervous moment when Carlos Beltran left the game with a groin injury. Beltran wasn’t the only injured superstar, as Derek Jeter also had to be removed from the game after being hit on the elbow. Luckily, both Jeter and Beltran escaped serious injurt and are day-to-day.
Cliff Floyd, the new cleanup hitter for the Mets, extended his hit streak to 17 games, the longest in the majors this season. Floyd was 2-5 with 1 RBI and is batting .368 on the season. Mike Piazza, the former cleanup hitter, has moved to 5th in the lineup and is sandwiched between the left handed bats of Floyd and Doug Mientkiewicz.
Matsui, who was out three games because of a scratch on his eye, botched four plays that extended innings and eventually allowed runs to score. In the 3rd inning, the sellout crowd voiced their displeasure at Matsui, including some calls for Miguel Cairo, who played well while Matsui was out. None of Matsui's mistakes were scored errors. Despite the fan reaction, both Willie Randolph and Omar Minaya support the 2nd baseman.
Through seven innings of the pitcher's duel between Martinez and John Smoltz, it looked like the Mets would remain winless, but the bats came alive for 5 runs in the 8th. Smoltz picked up the loss despite 15 strike outs. For his part, Martinez had 9 K's and retired the final 16 batters to end the game.
It was the worst loss in the history of Baseball. Let that sink in. In over 100 years of baseball there has never been a loss as bad as the one the Yankees suffered from the hands of the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night. 22-0. It was the low point of the Yankee season. But, it only counted as one game in the standings. The next day the Yankees put it behind them and came out with a 5-4 win and then clinched the series with a 9-1 win last night.
Alex Rodriguez came to the plate in the fifth inning with the Yankees trailing 4-3, one out and the bases loaded. He was batting .197 at the time with runners in scoring position. There are currently 135 major league players who are hitting BETTER than A-Rod in that same situation. He looked poised and ready to break out of it...and then he hit into a rally-killing double pay to end the inning. If he were in New York, he would have been booed. In Toronto he calmly took of his helmet and went back to work in the field. In the ninth inning he got another chance with the score tied 4-4, A-Rod drove in two runs and lead the Yankees to a 7-4 win over the Blue Jays.
Orlando Hernandez looks flat-out amazing these days. He may be the best pitcher on the Yankees pitching staff and right now is the only one that you can count on for a solid start. Last night Hernandez took his record to 5-0 with a 5-1 win over the hard-hitting Texas Rangers.
The story of the night was the bullpen. If the Yankees can find a way to get into the sixth or seventh inning with the lead it is going to be very tough to beat them. Quantrill thrives on work, after working two games in five days early in the season, Quantrill walked into Joe Torre's office and asked the manager if he had to go to the other clubhouse to get some work. Quantrill wants to work 4 out of five games. Right now, there is no concern that he is working too much. Gordon and Rivera on the other hand, may need to rest a little bit more in the next 8 weeks.
The Yankees took three games over the weekend from a struggling Toronto team to increase their record to 71-39 overall and expand their lead over the Red Sox to 10.5 games. In the first three games of the four game series the Yankees outscored Toronto 25-6. Friday 11-4, Saturday 6-0 and Sunday 8-2
Hentgen lasted only two and two-thirds innings, giving up eight earned runs, seven hits, four walks and striking out zero. Vazquez managed to go six innings, giving up nine hits, three earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts. Felix Heredia, Juan Padilla and Paul Quantrill finished off the game, without allowing another Blue Jays run and allowing only two more hits.
The Yankees came into the series with a five and a half game lead over the Red Sox, by the first pitch on Thursday night, that lead was seven and a half games. It was a must win game for The Red Sox and their ace Pedro Martinez took the hill. Pedro picked up where he left off last year. After Gary Sheffield disrupted Pedro's focus by calling for time, Pedro plunked him with the baseball. After that, you could almost feel the air turn into the crisp October air this game deserved.
Lucky for the Brown, the Yankee offense the team out of a 5-0 hole and the Yankees went on to win 7-5 (box score). Derek Jeter, returning from a groin injury, continued his hot streak by hitting the a two-run home run in the 7th, giving the Yankees the lead. Bernie Williams hit a solo shot after Jeter to give the Yankee bullpen a small cushion. 2nd basemen Miguel Cairo went 4-4 on the night, pushing his average above the .300 level to .304.
Derek Jeter continues to struggle at the plate. He is hitless in his last 17 at bats and 1-26.Gothamist knows that it's unlikely, but you've got to wonder - can Jeter continue to hit below the Mendoza Line? Jeter feels that he's getting close though, "I thought today was the best all around day I've had in a long time." Gothamist thinks the question is if Yankee fans will boo him when they return from the road trip. If they do, it probably won't be too bad, but maybe it could serve as a wake-up call.
