The New York Yankees fall in Arizona as Zack Greinke looks good

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.  The game took place at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona and the final score was 5-3.  Michael Pineda started for the Yankees and he wasn't very good and the bullpen was good.  Starlin Castro had two of the teams six hits. 

Pineda pitched five innings giving up nine hits and five runs with a walk and nine strikeouts.  He lost his fifth game of the season.  Chasen Shreve pitched two innings giving up a hit and he struck out two and Kirby Yates pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts. 

Greinke pitched seven innings giving up five hits and three runs with no walks and seven strikeouts.  Greinke won his fourth game of the season.  Daniel Hudson pitched an inning giving up a hit and he struck out two and Brad Ziegler pitched an inning walking one and striking out one.  Ziegler saved his eighth game of the season. 

Jacoby Ellsbury had a hit and an RBI, Castro had two hits and an RBI and Chase Headley drew a walk.  Didi Gregorius had a hit, Aaron Hicks had a hit and Dustin Ackley had a hit.  Carlos Beltran had an RBI, Castro hit a homerun and the Yankees were 1-2 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.  Headley and Pineda each committed an error and McCann had a passed ball.  Pineda had a pickoff. 

Jean Segura had two hits, Chris Herrmann had a hit and Paul Goldschmidt had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk.  Jake Lamb had a hit and two RBI, Welington Castillo had a hit and an RBI and Chris Owings had a hit.  Nick Ahmed had two hits and an RBI, Owings hit a triple and Lamb hit a homerun.  The Diamondbacks were 3-10 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.  Goldschmidt had two stolen bases and Castillo had a stolen base.  Segura was picked off. 

In the second Castro hit a solo homerun to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.  In the second Ahmed hit an RBI single to tie the game at one.  In the third Goldschmidt hit an RBI single to make it 2-1 Diamondbacks.  Castillo hit an RBI single and it was 3-1 Diamondbacks.  In the fifth Lamb hit a two run homerun to push the lead to 5-1.  In the eighth Beltran hit an RBI groundout to cut the lead to 5-2.  Ellsbury hit an RBI single and it was 5-3 but that would be the final score. 

The Yankees have lost the first two games of the series and will look to grab the final game on Wednesday night and avoid the three game sweep.   

The New York Mets defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game Five and advance to the NLCS

The New York Mets defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night.  The game took place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California and the final score was 3-2 Mets.  Jacob deGrom started for the Mets and he battled all night long and the Mets bullpen was lights out.  The offense was led by Daniel Murphy who did it all. 

deGrom pitched six innings giving up two runs on six hits.  He walked three and struck out seven and picked up his second win of the series.  Noah Syndergaard pitched an inning giving up a walk and he struck out two and Jeurys Familia saved his second game of the series pitching two perfect innings with a couple of strikeouts. 

Zack Greinke lost his first game of the series pitching 6 2/3 innings and giving up six hits and three runs.  He walked one and struck out nine.  Luis Avilan pitched to one batter and retired him, Chris Hatcher pitched a perfect inning including a strikeout and Kenley Jansen pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout. 

Curtis Granderson had a hit, Murphy had three hits and two RBI and Lucas Duda drew a walk.  Travis d'Arnaud had an RBI, Juan Lagares had a hit and Wilmer Flores had a hit and drew a walk.  Kelly Johnson had a hit, Murphy and Lagares each hit a double and Murphy hit a homerun.  The Mets were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.  Murphy had a stolen base and Flores committed an error. 

Cory Seager had a hit, Adrian Gonzalez had a hit and drew a walk and Justin Turner had three hits and an RBI.  Andre Ethier had a hit and an RBI, Yasmani Grandal drew a walk and Joc Pederson drew two walks.  Turner hit two doubles and the Dodgers were 2-13 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.  Turner had a stolen base  and Enrique Hernandez committed an error. 

In the first Murphy hit an RBI double to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.  In the bottom of the first Turner hit an RBI single to tie the game and Ethier hit an RBI single to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.  In the fourth d'Arnaud hit a sac fly after heads up baserunning by Murphy to get to third after a walk to Duda and seeing the shift being played.  The Mets took the lead in the sixth on a Murphy solo homerun at 3-2 and they were able to hold that lead and move on to the NLCS.  It was a very good series and a tight one and the next one against the Cubs should be just as good if not better.  Game one will be on Saturday night in New York at Citi Field. 

The New York Mets lose the game and also their shortstop

The New York Mets were defeated in game two of the NLDS on Saturday night.  The game took place at Dodger Stadium and the final score was 5-2 Dodgers.  Noah Syndergaard started for the Mets and pitched well and Curtis Granderson led the offense with a couple of hits. 

Syndergaard pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up five hits and three runs with four walks and nine strikeouts.  Bartolo Colon gave up a run without recording an out, Addison Reed pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and a run and Jon Niese pitched to one batter and struck him out.  Hansel Robles pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts. 

Zack Greinke pitched seven innings giving up five hits and two runs with no walks and eight strikeouts.  Greinke got the win.  Chris Hatcher pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts and Kenley Jansen saved the game pitching an inning with a walk and a strikeout. 

Granderson had two hits and drew a walk, Daniel Murphy had a hit and Yoenis Cespedes had a hit and an RBI.  Michael Conforto had a hit and an RBI, Cespedes and Conforto each hit a homerun.  The Mets were 0-2 with runners in scoring position and left one men on base.  Murphy was caught stealing. 

Howie Kendrick had a hit and an RBI, Adrian Gonzalez had a hit and two RBI and Justin Turner had two hits and an RBI.  Andre Ethier had a hit, an RBI and drew two walks.  Enrique Hernandez had a hit and drew two walks, Chase Utley had a hit and Turner hit two doubles.  Ethier and Gonzlez each hit a double and the Dodgers were 4-12 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.  Crawford and Hernandez each had a stolen base. 

In the second Cespedes hit a solo homerun to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.  In the second Conforto hit a solo homerun to extend the lead to 2-0 Mets.  In the fourth Ethier hit an RBI double to cut the lead to 2-1.  In the seventh the Dodgers tied the game at two with a fielder's choice.  The play resulted in a violent collision at second base and the shortstop Tejada leaving with a broken leg.  Gonzalez hit an RBI double to give the Dodgers a 4-2 lead, Turner hit an RBI double to make it 5-2 and that would be the final score of the game. 

The two teams have split the first two games in the best of five series.  The third game will be at Citi Field in New York on Monday night with game four to follow on Tuesday night and then if game five is needed it will be back in Los Angeles on Thursday night.  The big play of this game was the takeout slide by Utley and the resulting broken leg by Tejada the shortstop of the Mets.  This will continue to draw a lot of discussion and debate and maybe even result in a rule change so stay tuned.  Utley was suspended two games but is appealing and awaiting on the appeal to be heard so he can continue to play.   

The New York Mets lose a one run game to the Los Angeles Dodgers

The New York Mets were defeated by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.  The game took place at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles, California and the final score was 4-3.  Matt Harvey started and didn't have a great outing, the bullpen was pretty good.  Wilmer Flores had three hits to lead the offense. 

Harvey pitched five innings giving up seven hits and three runs with five walks and four strikeouts.  He lost his sixth game of the season.  Alex Torres pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and a run with a walk, Carlos Torres pitched 2/3 of an inning striking out a batter and Sean Gilmartin pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one. 

Zach Greinke won his seventh game of the season pitching seven innings giving up four hits and no runs.  He walked none and struck out four.  Yimi Garcia pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout, Adam Liberatore pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and a run and Pedro Baez pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run.  J.P. Howell picked up his first save of the season striking out the only batter that he faced. 

Curtis Granderson had a hit, Daniel Murphy had a hit and Lucas Duda had a hit and an RBI.  Flores had three hits and an RBI, Kevin Plawecki had two hits and Juan Lagares had a hit and an RBI.  Plawecki and Duda each hit a double and the Mets were 2-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Cecilliani had a stolen base and Lagares was caught stealing. 

Joc Pederson drew a walk, Howie Kendrick had two hits and Adrian Gonzalez had a hit and an RBI.  Yasmani Grandal had two hits and drew a walk, Yasiel Puig had a hit and drew a walk and Andre Ethier had a hit and drew two walks.  Alberto Callaspo had two hits and two RBI.  Jimmy Rollins had an RBI and drew a walk, Greinke had a hit and Puig and Grandal each hit a double.  Gonzalez had a homerun and the Dodgers were 2-12 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base.  Kendrick had a stolen base. 

In the second Rollins hit an RBI groundout to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.  In the fifth Gonzalez hit a solo homerun to extend the lead to 2-0.  Callaspo hit an RBI single and it was 3-0 Dodgers.  In the seventh Callaspo hit an RBI single to push the lead to 4-0.  In the eighth Duda hit an RBI double, Flores hit an RBI single and in the ninth Lagares hit a sac fly to make it 4-3 but that would be the final score.