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.
Like they did so many times when Martinez pitched for Boston, the Yankees waited him out. After looking anemic for the first seven innings, the Yankees received fresh life when Met shortstop Jose Reyes dropped a flip from Miguel Cairo on what should have been a double play ball. The Yankees, who scored the go-ahead runs on consecutive errors on Friday, took advantage. Hideki Matsui had a two-run single, and Bernie Williams brought him home with an RBI triple.
As Gothamist said Friday, this series is the beginning of a long test for the Mets. They travel to Atlanta and Florida this week, and they don’t want to play as carelessly against their division rivals. Gothamist’s view of the Mets hasn’t changed because they lost two of three to the Yankees. Still, the Mets need a good showing on this road trip to prevent the Yankee series from becoming anything more than disappointing losses to their crosstown rivals.
Photo from Bill Kostroun/AP via Yahoo
