The New York Yankees start long road trip with a good win in Kansas City

The New York Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.  The game took place at Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri and the final score was 4-2.  Chase Whitley started and pitched great.  Dellin Betances and David Robertson closed it out.  Brian McCann had the big hit which was a three run double. 

Whitley pitched seven innings giving up two runs on five hits.  He walked none and struck out three and earned his first major league win.  This was also the first time he went past five innings in any of his starts this year.  Betances pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts and he gave up a hit and Robertson pitched a scoreless inning to pick up his 14th save of the season.  Robertson gave up a hit and a walk with two strikeouts. 

Jeremy Guthrie lost his sixth game of the season pitching seven innings and giving up six hits and four runs.  He walked one and struck out two, Francisley Bueno pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk and Wilken Rodriguez pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout. 

Jacoby Ellsbury had a hit, Brett Gardner had two hits and Mark Teixeira had a hit and drew a walk.  McCann had a hit and three RBI, Yangervis Solarte drew a walk and Ichiro Suzuki had a hit.  Brian Roberts had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Brendan Ryan had a hit and McCann hit a double.  The Yankees were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.  Ryan was caught stealing and Suzuki was picked off in the game. 

Nori Aoki had a hit, Billy Butler had a hit and Alex Gordon had two hits and drew a walk.  Salvador Perez had a hit and an RBI, Lorenzo Cain had a hit and an RBI and Alcides Escobar had a hit.  Gordon, Cain, Escobar and Butler each hit a double.  The Royals were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.  Gordon had a stolen base and Aoki was caught stealing.  Infante committed an error. 

Roberts hit an RBI single in the second giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.  In the bottom of the second Perez tied the score with an RBI single.  McCann hit a three run double in the third to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead.  The Royals would score one more run in the fifth on a Cain RBI double.  The final score was 4-2 Yankees as they held on in the ninth for the win.  It was the Yankees second win in a row.  The two teams will play game two of their four game series on Saturday night. 

The New York Yankees rally to beat the Toronto Blue Jays

The New York Yankees rally to beat the Toronto Blue Jays


The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night. The final score was 4-3 and the game took place at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. Phil Hughes started and was ok and the bullpen was good. The offense was asleep again most of the night. It awoke in the eighth inning for a big rally.

Hughes pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up four hits and two runs with two strikeouts. David Huff pitched 3 2/3 innings giving up a hit and a run with three strikeouts, David Robertson pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Mariano Rivera pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and striking out one. Rivera picked up his 44th save of the season.

Curtis Granderson had a hit and drew a walk, Alex Rodriguez drew a walk and Robinson Cano had two hits and an RBI. Alfonso Soriano had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Vernon Wells had two hits and two RBI and Mark Reynolds drew a walk. Eduardo Nunez had a hit, Ichiro Suzuki had a hit and Brendan Ryan had a hit. Ryan, Soriano and Wells each hit a double and the Yankees were 5-11 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Reynolds was caught stealing.

J.A. Happ pitched seven innings giving up four hits and a run with three walks and seven strikeouts. Aaron Loup gave up a hit and a run without recording an out, Steve Delabar picked up his fifth loss of the season pitching 1/3 of an inning and giving up three hits and two runs with a walk and a strikeout and Darren Oliver pitched 2/3 of an inning. Dustin McGowan pitched an inning giving up a hit.

Jose Reyes had a hit, Rajai Davis had a hit and Brett Lawrie had a hit. Adam Lind had a hit, Colby Rasmus had two hits and two RBI and Moises Sierra had a hit. Ryan Goins had a hit and an RBI, Reyes, Sierra and Lawrie each hit a double. Rasmus and Goins each hit a homerun and the Blue Jays were 1-11 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Reyes and Davis each had a stolen base.

Rasmus hit a two run homerun and Goins hit his first major league homerun in the fourth. /The Jays had a 3-0 lead and then in the eighth the Yankees scored four runs. Cano hit an RBI single, Soriano an RBI double and Wells a two run double. The Yankees took a 4-3 lead and that would be the final score.

The Yankees ended their four game losing streak and improved their record to 80-72. The Jays record fell to 69-82. The two teams will play the rubber game of three on Thursday night.

The New York Yankees win third straight 2-0 over the Minnesota Twins

The New York Yankees win third straight 2-0 over the Minnesota Twins


The New York Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. The final score was 2-0 and the game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. Hiroki Kuroda started and pitched well and the pen was great. Brett Gardner and Robinson Cano had an RBI for the Yankees.

Kuroda pitched five innings giving up no runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out five and won his eighth game of the season. Preston Claiborne pitched an inning giving up two hits and struck out one, Boone Logan pitched an inning striking out the sides and David Robertson pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts. Mariano Rivera saved his 30th game of the season pitching a perfect inning with a strikeout. Rivera set the all-time mark with 15 seasons of at least 30 saves passing Trevor Hoffman.

Brett Gardner had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Ichiro Suzuki drew a walk and Robinson Cano had a hit, an RBI and drew two walks. Vernon Wells had a hit and drew a walk, Lyle Overbay had two hits and drew a walk and Luis Cruz had a hit. Wells hit a double and the Yankees were 2-6 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Gardner had a stolen base and Cano was picked off.

Scott Diamond pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up a hit and no runs. He walked three and struck out one. Ryan Pressly pitched an inning giving up two hits and two runs with a strikeout. Pressly lost his second game of the season, Brian Duensing pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and a walk, Jared Burton pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two walks and a strikeout and Casey Fien pitched an inning giving up a hit and struck out two.

Dozier had two hits, Joe Mauer had two hits and drew a walk and Justin Morneau had a hit and drew a walk. Trevor Plouffe had two hits, Florimon had a hit and Dozier and Mauer each hit a double. The Twins were 0-12 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Hicks had an outfield assist and Duensing had a pickoff.

In the fifth inning the Yankees scored the only two runs of the game. Gardner had an RBI single and Cano hit an RBI single. The Yankees pitching held the Twins off the board and preserved the 2-0 lead.

The Yankees have now won three straight and improved their record to 51-42. The Twins record fell to 37-53. The two teams will play game two of their three game series on Saturday afternoon.

The New York Yankees win third straight over the Toronto Blue Jays

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 5-4 on Saturday evening. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. CC Sabathia started and pitched ok for the Yankees. Travis Hafner led the Yankees offense. Joba Chamberlain got the save. 
Sabathia pitched eight innings giving up four runs on nine hits, three of the runs were earned. He walked none and struck out four and picked up win number four on the season. Chamberlain pitched an inning giving up two hits and striking out one and picking up his first save of the season.

Brett Gardner had a hit, Jayson Nix had a hit and Robinson Cano had two hits. Vernon Wells had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Kevin Youkilis drew a walk and Hafner had two hits and four RBI. Ichiro Suzuki had two hits, Eduardo Nunez had a hit and Chris Stewart had a hit. Cano hit a double, Hafner hit a triple and hit a homerun. The Yankees were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Wells had a stolen base, Stewart committed an error and had a passed ball. Suzuki had an outfield assist.

J.A. Happ started for the Blue Jays and pitched six innings giving up eight hits and three runs with two walks and five strikeouts. Esmil Rogers took the loss his second of the season pitching 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs and Brett Cecil pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and striking out one.

Rajai Davis had a hit and an RBI, Melky Cabrera had a hit and Jose Bautista had a hit and an RBI. Edward Encarnacion had a hit, Brett Lawrie had a hit and an RBI and Mark DeRosa had a hit. Maizur Izturis had three hits, Emilio Bonifacio had two hits and Bonifacio hit a double and Bautista and Lawrie each hit a homerun. The Blue Jays were 0-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.

In the third Davis hit an RBI groundout to give the Jays a 1-0 lead. In the fourth Bautista hit a solo homerun to make it 2-0 and Lawrie flew out scoring a run on a missed catch error by Stewart. It was 3-0 Jays when Hafner hit a three run homerun in the bottom of the fourth. In the sixth Lawrie hit a solo homerun giving the Jays a 4-3 lead. In the seventh Wells hit an RBI single to tie the game at four and Hafner hit an RBI triple to make it 5-4 Yankees. The final score of the game was 5-4.

The Yankees have now won three straight games and improved their record to 14-9. The Blue Jays record dropped to 9-16. The two teams will play the final game of their four game series on Sunday afternoon. The Yankees will be looking for the sweep.

The New York Mets fail to get Dickey to his 19th win in loss to the Philadelphia Phillies

The New York Mets were defeated by the Philadelphia Phillies by the score of 3-1 on Monday night. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. R.A. Dickey started for the Mets and pitched pretty well. The bullpen was good and Daniel Murphy produced the Mets offense. Cliff Lee started for the Phillies and was really good and Jonathan Papelbon closed it out. The Phillies offense was led by Chase Utley and Dominick Brown. 
Dickey lost his sixth game of the season pitching seven innings giving up five hits and three runs with two of them being earned. He walked two and struck out eight. Robert Carson pitched pitched an inning giving up a hit, Josh Edgin pitched 2/3 of an inning striking out one and Ramon Ramirez retired the only batter that he faced. Lee won his sixth game of the season pitching eight innings. He gave up seven hits and a run with a walk and ten strikeouts. Papelbon saved his 35^th game of the season pitching a perfect inning and striking out one.

Ruben Tejada had a hit and drew a walk, Murphy had a hit and an RBI and David Wright had a hit. Lucas Duda had a hit, Andres Torres had a hit and Mike Nickeas had a hit. Kelly Shoppach had a hit, Duda hit a double and the Mets were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Dickey committed an error and Nickeas had a passed ball.

Jimmy Rollins had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Utley had two hits and an RBI and Carlos Ruiz had a hit. Domonic Brown had two hits and an RBI, Frandsen drew a walk and Brown hit a triple and hit a homerun. Rollins hit a homerun. The Phillies were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

Utley hit a sacrifice fly in the first to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. In the fifth the Phillies took a 2-0 lead on a Rollins solo homerun. The play was reviewed and overturned after it was initially ruled not a homerun. The Mets came back with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Murphy hit an RBI single, Brown hit a solo homerun in the seventh to make it 3-1 and that was the final score.

The two teams will play game two of three on Tuesday night weather permitting. The Mets record fell to 66-81 and the Phillies record improved to 74-74. The Phillies remain in the hunt for the second wild card while the Mets are playing out the string.

The New York Yankees bounce back with a victory over the Tampa Bay Rays

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 5-3 on Saturday evening. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. Ivan Nova started for the Yankees and pitched well, the bullpen held on to the lead but they did run into some trouble. Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez led the Yankees offense. James Shields started for the Rays and pitched ok and their bullpen was ok. Luke Scott led the Rays offense with a couple of RBI. 
Nova won his 12^th game of the season and pitched six innings giving up four hits and two runs with two walks and eight strikeouts. Boone Logan pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run, Joba Chamberlain pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Dave Robertson pitched a perfect inning. Rafael Soriano picked up his 39^th save of the season. He pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout. Shields lost his ninth game of the season pitching 6 1/3 innings giving up six hits and four runs with a walk and four strikeouts. Kyle Farnsworth pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk and a strikeout and Jake McGee pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run.

Ichiro Suzuki had a hit, Derek Jeter had a hit and an RBI and Cano had two hits. Rodriguez had two hits and an RBI, Raul Ibanez drew a walk and Curtis Granderson had a hit and two RBI. Eduardo Nunez had a hit and an RBI and Chris Stewart drew a walk. Cano hit a double, Granderson and Nunez each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 2-3 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base. Suzuki had a stolen base.

Desmond Jennings had a hit, Evan Longoria had a hit and an RBI and Jeff Keppinger had a hit. Matt Joyce had a hit and drew a walk, Ben Francisco had a hit and Ryan Roberts had a hit. Carlos Pena drew a walk, Stephen Vogt drew a walk and Scott had a hit and two RBI. Joyce and Roberts each hit a double and Longoria hit a homerun. The Rays were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

In the second inning Granderson hit a two run homerun and Nunez hit a solo homerun going back-to-back. It put the Yankees ahead 3-0. In the fifth Jeter hit an RBI single to extend the lead to 4-0. Longoria hit a solo homerun in the sixth to make it a 4-1 game. In the seventh Scott hit a two run single to get the Rays to within 4-3. Rodriguez hit an RBI single in the eighth to make it 5-3 and that would be the final score.

The Yankees and Rays have split the first two of the three game series. They will conclude the series on Sunday afternoon. The Yankees record improved to 82-63 and the Rays record dropped to 78-67. The Rays are now four back of the AL East leading Yankees. The Yankees currently have ½ a game lead on the Baltimore Orioles who are playing late Saturday night in Oakland. The Yankees could be back in sole possession of first place with an Orioles loss.

The New York Yankees even up series with Boston Red Sox and remain tied for first

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox by the score of 5-4 on Wednesday night. The game took place at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. David Phelps made the start for the Yankees and pitched well probably the best of his career. He didn’t pitch that deep into the game but under the circumstances it was some performance. The Yankees bullpen made it interesting but they weren’t that bad. Curtis Granderson powered the offense with two homeruns and Nick Swisher continued to come out of his slump with three more hits. Aaron Cook was out of the game early for the Red Sox and their pen did a decent job. Jarrod Saltalamacchaia was the leader of the Red Sox offense. 
Phelps pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up one run on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts. He won his fourth game of the season, Clay Rapada pitched to one batter and retired him, Cody Eppley pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout and Boone Logan didn’t record an out and gave up a hit and a run. Joba Chamberlain pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit, Dave Robertson pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Rafael Soriano pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout. Cook took the loss, his 10^th of the season pitching five innings giving up seven hits and three runs with two strikeouts. Rich Hill pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk and striking out one, Alfredo Aceves pitched an inning giving up three hits and two runs with a strikeout and Chris Carpenter pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a walk. Andrew Miller pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out two and Vincente Padilla pitched to one batter and struck him out.

Derek Jeter had two hits, Granderson had two hits and three RBI and Alex Rodriguez had a hit. Robinson Cano had a hit and two RBI, Swisher had three hits and Eric Chavez had two hits. Andruw Jones drew a walk and Chris Stewart drew a walk. Chavez and Swisher each hit two doubles. Granderson hit two homeruns and Cano hit a homerun. The Yankees struggles with runners in scoring position continued as they were 0-13 and left 10 men on base. Dickerson had a stolen base and Soriano committed an error. Jacoby Ellsbury had a hit, Dustin Pedroia had two hits before leaving to be with his wife who was in labor and James Loney had two hits and an RBI. Saltalamacchia had three hits, an rBI and drew a walk, Daniel Nava had a hit and Miguel Gomez had an RBI. Mike Aviles had a hit and an RBI, Pedroia, Saltalamacchia, Nava, Aviles and Loney each hit a double. Saltalamacchia hit a triple and hit a homerun. The Red Sox were 3-9 with runner sin scoring position and left six men on base. Ciriaco, Aviles and Miller each committed an error.

In the fourth inning Granderson hit a solo homerun to make it 1-0 Yankees. Cano hit a two run homerun and it was 3-0 Yankees. The Red Sox scored a run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a Loney RBI single. Granderson hit a two run homerun in the seventh inning making it a 5-1 game in favor of the Yankees. In the bottom of the seventh the Red Sox scored a couple of runs to make it a 5-3 game. Gomez hit an RBI groundout and Aviles hit an RBI double. The Red Sox scored a run in the ninth on a Saltalamacchia solo homerun to make it 5-4 and that was the final score.

The Yankees and Red Sox have split the first two games of a three game series. The three game series will conclude on Thursday night. The Yankees record improved to 80-62 and the Red Sox record fell to 64-79. The Yankees remain in a first place tie with the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East. They moved to three games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays.

The New York Yankees win their second in a row over the Angels

The New York Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by the score of 5-3 on Saturday afternoon. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,NY. Freddy Garcia started for the Yankees and had a rough first inning but then settled down. The Yankees bullpen was great. The Yankees hit two two run homeruns. Jerome Williams pitched ok for the Angels and Mike Trout led their offense. 
Garcia pitched five innings giving up three runs on five hits. He walked five and struck out four. Garcia earned his fourth win of the season, Cody Eppley pitched two innings giving up a hit, Dave Robertson gave up a hit and struck out two in his one inning and Rafael Soriano picked up his 22^nd save of the season. Soriano pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts. Williams lost his sixth game of the season pitching six innings giving up seven hits and five runs for the Angels. He walked one and struck out four, Hisanori Takahashi pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and LaTroy Hawkins pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Curtis Granderson had a hit and two RBI and Alex Rodriguez had two hits. Robinson Cano had two hits and three RBI, Nick Swisher drew a walk and Raul Ibanez had a hit. Chris Stewart had a hit. Rodriguez had a double, Cano and Granderson each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 3-5 with runners in scoring position and they left two men on base. Rodriguez had a stolen base and Swisher was caught stealing.

Trout had three hits, Erik Aybar had a hit and drew a walk and Albert Pujols drew a walk. Kendry Morales drew a walk, Mark Trumbo drew a walk and Alberto Callaspo had a hit and two RBI. Howie Kendrick drew a walk, Peter Bourjos had a hit and Bobby Wilson had a hit and an RBI. Trout had a double and the Angels were 1-8 with runners in scoring position leaving nine men on base. Kendrick had a stolen base and Trout had two.

The Angels took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Callaspo had a two run single. The Yankees came back and tied it at two in the bottom of the first. Cano hit a two run homerun. In the third Granderson hit a two run homerun to make it 4-2 Yankees. The Angels would cut the lead to 4-3 in the fourth. Wilson grounded out to score the run. Cano hit an RBI single in the sixth for the fifth and final run for the Yankees. It was 5-3 Yankees and they would hold that lead for the rest of the game.

The Yankees have the best record in baseball and have taken the first two games coming out of the break. The Yankees will try to sweep the three game series with the Angels on Sunday afternoon. The Yankees record improved to 54-33. The Angels record dropped to 48-40.

Yankees end their skid and Rivera gets save 599

The New York Yankees defeated the Anaheim Angels on Sunday afternoon by the score of 6-5. Freddy Garcia made the start and didn’t pitch very well but he battled. The bullpen did a good job and the offense rallied. The offense came into the game not scoring a run for 16 innings. Jesus Montero started his first game in the major leagues as a catcher and Austin Romine made his major league debut.
Garcia pitched five innings giving up seven hits and five runs. He walked three and struck out three. Cory Wade who earned his fifth win and went to 5-0 pitched one perfect inning, Rafael Soriano pitched one inning giving up two hits and he struck out a batter and Dave Robertson pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Rivera earned his 599th save of his career and 40th of the season pitching one inning giving up a hit.

Derek Jeter had two hits, Curtis Granderson had a hit and two RBI and Mark Teixeira had a walk and an RBI. Robinson Cano had two hits and an RBI, Jesus Montero was intentionally walked and Eric Chavez had two hits and an RBI. Andruw Jones had two walks, Eduardo Nunez had a walk and Brett Gardner had a hit and a walk. Chavez had a double, Cano and Granderson each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Gardner was caught stealing.

The Angels took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Howie Kendrick hit a two run homerun. In the second inning Chavez had an RBI single to cut the lead in half. In the third Garcia threw a wild pitch to allow a run to score and give the Angels a 3-1 lead. In the fourth Cano hit a solo homerun to make it 3-2 Angels. Peter Bourjos hit a two run homerun in the fourth inning to give the Angels a 5-2 lead. In the fifth Granderson hit a two run homerun to make it 5-4. In the seventh Teixeira hit a sacrifice fly but the ball was dropped and two runs scored to give the Yankees a 6-5 lead and that would be the final runs in the game. The Yankees would give up a infield hit in the ninth but it would be erased by a double play to end the game.

The Yankees salvaged the final game of the three game series. The Yankees increased their lead in the AL East to 3 ½ games over the Boston Red Sox. The AL wild card is suddenly a race as the Tampa Bay Rays swept the Red Sox and are only 3 ½ behind them. The Yankees will head to Seattle to begin a three game series on Monday night. Phil Hughes will be on the mound against Felix Hernandez. The 3 ½ game lead the Yankees have is their largest of the season. The Yankees offense had been struggling and in this game they showed signs of life and maybe now they will come out of their slump. They have been battling fatigue and guys being injured. The Yankees have used five catchers this past week alone, that shows how beat up they have been but they found a way in this game and now they hope they can relax a little and win a few more games. The Yankees have 17 games remaining so they are in pretty good shape to wrap up a postseason spot and even the division title.

Mets lose on a walk-off as Parnell blows the save

The New York Mets lost to the Washington Nationals on Saturday night by a score of 8-7. Dillon Gee made the start and did not have a very good outing. The bullpen did a good job with three scoreless innings and getting the ball to Parnell but then he blew the save. Parnell is being groomed as the closer and it is a learning experience for him right now. The offense was good led by Angel Pagan and Justin Turner.
Gee pitched five innings giving up six runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out six. Pedro Beato pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits, Daniel Herrera pitched to two batters and retired them both and Manny Acosta pitched two scoreless innings walking one and striking out five. Parnell pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs with two walks, it was his third blown save of the season and his record is 3-5 on the season.

Jose Reyes had a hit, Turner had two hits and Lucas Duda had an RBI. David Wright had a hit and a walk, Pagan had two hits and two RBI and Jason Bay had a hit and two RBI. Nick Evans had a hit and two RBI, Ronny Paulino had a hit and Willie Harris had a walk. Wright had a double, Evans and Bay each had a homerun. The Mets were 3-7 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base. Pagan had a stolen base and Paulino made a throwing error.

Ian Desmond hit a solo homerun in the first inning to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead. In the second inning the Nationals took a 5-0 lead. Jesus Flores hit an RBI double and Tom Milone hit a three run homerun. In the fourth inning Pagan had a two run single to cut the lead to 5-2. Evans hit a two run homerun and the game was a one run game at 5-4 Nationals. In the fifth inning Roger Bernadina hit a solo homerun to give the Nationals a 6-4 lead. Bay hit a two run homerun in the sixth and the Mets had tied the game at six. In the seventh inning the Mets took a 7-6 lead on a Duda sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the ninth inning the Nationals won the game on a walk-off two run single by Ryan Zimmerman.

The Mets have lost the first two games of the series in Washington. They will attempt to avoid the sweep on Sunday afternoon. Bay had been 0-35 on the road before his homerun. The previous record for a Mets position player was 0-32 by Cleon Jones. Al Leiter was 0-70 on the road but he was a pitcher. The Mets are now three games under 500. It is amazing some of the losses they have had this year but they continue to play hard and fight to the finish which is a good sign for them. The Mets have gone through a lot this year with the change in manager and GM, the owners financial mess and now the latest minority owner having his deal fall through. The Mets have played well for most of the year considering the circumstances. They have to continue to fight and set 500 as a goal for the season. If they can do that they should feel good about coming into spring training next year and making progress.

Mets battle their way to a win in extra innings

The New York Mets defeated the Florida Marlins by the score of 6-4 Saturday night. Jon Niese made the start and gave up two runs in the first inning. He settled down after that and ended up pitching seven innings without giving up another run. Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect eighth inning. Francisco Rodriguez blew the save in the ninth inning and Blaine Boyer ended up with the save in the tenth inning. The Mets battled back to tie the game at two in the sixth inning and they took the lead in the ninth inning on a Josh Thole RBI single. The Mets came right back after the blown save to score three runs in the tenth inning. Willie Harris had a big two run double. Boyer didn't make it easy but he did secure the save after giving up a run, the last out was a hard shot up the middle that Reyes made a nice play on and ran to second to get the last out. The Mets and Marlins will play the rubber game of the three game series Sunday afternoon with R.A. Dickey on the mound. The Mets will have off Monday and then head to Philadelphia for three games. They would love to head their with some confidence.

Yanks finally get a win in Anaheim

The New York Yankees beat the Anaheim Angels by the score of 6-5 last night in Anaheim. This was the first win for the Yankees out there this season, they are now 1-4 in Anaheim. The Yankees now own a 6 game lead over the Red Sox and 5 1/2 over the Angels, the magic number for clinching the division is at 6. Chad Gaudin got the start and was very good for 4 and 2/3 innings and then it totally unraveled. He gave up a couple of runs and had to be pulled from the game. Alfredo Aceves got into trouble in the 6th but thanks to A-rod making a great diving stop on Vlady Guerrero the Yankees got out of the inning with a 5-4 lead. The Yankees had the lead when Phil Hughes got out of a jam in the 7th and came out for the 8th but Robinson Cano made an error and then Jorge Posada had a throwing error so there was a runner on 3rd with no outs and the Angels did end up tying the game but Phil Hughes struck out Vlady and Tori Hunter with a runner in scoring position. Brett Gardner led off the ninth and once again gave the Angels a taste of their own medicine leading off with a single and stealing second. Derek Jeter walked and Johnny Damon bunted them over. The Angels made a interesting move by walking Mark Teixeira intentionally and loading the bases for A-rod who on the first pitch smacked a semi deep line drive that scored the run and Mo closed it out for the save. The Yankees will try to win the series this afternoon with A.J. Burnett on the hill. The Yankees did not celebrate making the playoffs as they chose to wait and hopefully clinch the division at home and then celebrate. Joe Girardi met with them in the clubhouse briefly congratulating them according to Peter Abraham but told them they have a lot more to accomplish and this was only the first step. It would be great if they clinch at home against Boston this weekend.

Yankees at White Sox

The Yankees play game 2 of a 4 game series tonight in Chicago. Sergio Mitre makes his 3rd start of the year for the Yankees. D.J. Carrasco starts for the White Sox as they aquired Jake Peavy and gave away their starter for tonight. The Red Sox also made a deal getting Victor Martinez for Justin Masterson and 2 prospects. The Yankees aquired Jerry Hairston Jr. for minor league catcher Chase Weems. Here are the pregame notes and lineups from Peter Abraham. Shelly Duncan is back, watch out everyone for the forearm smashes. He had 25 homeruns and 75 rbi's in Scranton. Yankee starters have a 2.61 era since the all star break. Melky is 5 of 14 on the roadtrip and 10 of his last 22 overall. The Yankees are batting 216 with runners in scoring position on this roadtrip. The Yankees have committed 7 errors on this roadtrip. Alfredo Aceves has only pitched once since July 21. The Yankees are 18-8 in July so they hate to see it end. Nick Swisher has a 6 game hitting streak and Johnny Damon has drawn a walk in 6 straight. Mo has not allowed a run in his last 16 2/3 innings. He has converted 25 straight save chances. Jon Albaladejo was sent back down to make room for Shelly Duncan and we will see what they do when Hairston gets here. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cabrera(CF) Hinske(RF)

Yanks win 7th straight

The New York Yankees defeated the Oakland A's last night after a long rain delay. The game started at around 9:50 and ended about 12:30 this morning. CC Sabathia got the start and was shaky early but pitched 7 innings giving up 3 runs on 9 hits with 0 walks and 4 strikeouts. Phil Hughes came on in the 8th inning and stayed in for the 9th retiring all 6 batters he faced to get his first major league save. I wonder if this is in his future, he sure seems like he was born to do this but we saw it with Joba and he ended up back where the Yankees said, so I am sure Phil Hughes will be back in the rotation next year but we will see. The Yankees offense was led by Mark Teixeira who hit a big 2 run homerun on a 3-0 pitch to get the Yankees back in the game after being down 3-0 early. He also had a double later on in the game. Eric Hinske had a rbi single, he seems to always get a big hit when he plays. Johnny Damon had 2 hits and Derek Jeter had a hit and a walk. A-rod had a walk and stolen base and Jorge Posada had 2 hits and 2 rbi's. Robinson Cano had a hit and Melky Cabrera also had a hit in his one at bat. The Yankees seem to be scoring runs in other ways other then hitting only homeruns which is a good sign with the strong pitching and defense they are playing. The Yankees will go for 8 in a row tonight with Andy Pettitte on the mound.

Yanks have good weekend

The New York Yankees won their last couple of games against the Blue Jays. On Saturday they won a dramatic game in 12 innings on a walkoff single by Jorge Posada after Robinson Cano bunted on 3-0 and the lead runner was thrown out at third base. He has been so bad with runners in scoring position also that finally Joe Girardi dropped him down to 7th in the order yesterday. The bad thing about Saturday's game was the Chien-Ming Wang had to leave the game with a shoulder strain and bursitis and is out indefinitely. He was actually pitching pretty good until he gave up a 2 run homerun which is when he felt the problem and then came out after the next pitch. The bullpen was great as it has been so often lately. Yesterday Joba Chamberlain was just awful and you do have to start wondering about him as he velocity is down and to me he doesn't have that slider anymore that used to devestate you when he would get 2 strikes on you. He has good stuff but something just doesn't seem right and I hope he is ok, they say they are going to do a lot of talking with him this week and try to get him right but I also get this feeling that he is kind of cocky and doesn't want to listen to anyone. Alfredo Aceves was just brilliant yesterday pitching 4 scoreless innings and picking up his first career save. The Yankees need someone to pitch Thursday and it looks like they will call up someone from AAA as Alfredo Aceves and Phil Hughes aren't stretched out enough. It seems to me that they want to keep Hughes in the pen this year as he has been so good out there. The Yankees will try and complete the 4 game sweep this afternoon with Andy Pettitte on the mound.