While the Yankees couldn’t find a way to fit in Old Timer’s Day or a baseball game due to the rain, the Mets were in Toronto facing the Blue Jays. El Duque simply didn’t have it and the Blue Jays cruised to a 7-4 victory.
Hernandez was involved in a weird sequence in the second inning. After starting the inning by hitting Lyle Overbay, Hernandez gave up a walk and a double before hitting Aaron Hill. After a visit to the mound, El Duque gave up a single and a homer to give Toronto a 6-0 lead. He then threw a pitch inside to Troy Glaus that emptied the benches. While El Duque tried to explain to the Blue Jays that he hadn’t intended the pitch to be inside, the benches cleared and Willie Randolph went out to calm his pitcher down. The umpires ruled that Randolph’s visit was a second trip to the mound in thr inning and the Mets were forced to change pitchers. Darren Oliver was brilliant in relief, but New York couldn’t overcome the big deficit and their nine-game road-winning streak ended.
The loss leaves the Mets a comfortable 11-games in first place while the Yankees drop to 2 1/2 games behind Boston.
Bobby Sanguinetti, Kyle Okoposo and Matthew Corrente were the first round picks of the Rangers, Islanders and Devils in the NHL Draft.
