The Mets three game winning streak comes to an end

The New York Mets were defeated by the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 7-3 on Friday night. Dillon Gee started for the Mets and pitched ok, the bullpen was bad. The Mets offense only managed four hits. Bronson Arroyo pitched well and the Reds bullpen shut the door on the Mets. The Mets got two RBI from Scott Hairston. The Reds had two hits and three RBI from Valdez. 
Gee lost his fifth game of the season. He pitched six innings giving up five hits and four runs with three of them being earned. He walked one and struck out four. Jeremy Hefner pitched an inning giving up three hits and two runs and Elvin Ramirez pitched two innings giving up three hits and a run with a walk and two strikeouts. Arroyo pitched six innings giving up four hits and three runs with two walks and five strikeouts. He won his third game of the season. Arredondo pitched a perfect inning, Marshall pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a hit and an RBI, David Wright had a hit and Lucas Duda drew a walk. Ike Davis had a hit and drew a walk, Hairston had a hit and two RBI. Nieuwenhuis and Hairston each hit a homerun. The Mets were 0-1 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base. Hairston committed an error.

Zach Cozart had two hits, Wilson Valdez had two hits and three RBI and Joey Votto had a hit. Brandon Phillips had a hit and two RBI, Jay Bruce had a hit and an RBI and Todd Frazier had a hit and drew two walks. Ryan Ludwick had a hit, Ryan Hanigan had a hit and Willie Harris had a hit. Votto, Cozart, Ludwick, Valdez and Harris each had a double. Bruce and Phillips each had a homerun. The Reds were 3-11 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base.

In the second Bruce hit an inside the park homerun after Bay crashed into the wall and suffered a possible concussion. Ludwick hit an RBI double and it was 2-0 Reds. Phillips hit a two run homerun in the third to push the Reds lead to 4-0. Nieuwenhuis hit a solo homerun in the sixth inning to put the Mets on the board and make it a 4-1 game. Valdez hit a two run double in the seventh and it was a 6-1 Reds lead. Hairston hit a two run homerun in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-3 and in the ninth Valdez hit an RBI single and the final was 7-3 Reds.

The Mets record dropped to 35-30 and the Reds improved their record to 36-27. The Mets three game winning streak came to an end. The two teams will play game two of their three game series on Saturday night.

The Yankees keep on rolling in the nations capital with a convincing win over the Nationals

The New York Yankees defeated the Washington Nationals by the score of 7-2 on Friday night. The game took place at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. The game was a lot closer then the final score would indicate. It was a 2-0 and 2-1 game for the majority of it. The Yankees pulled away late. Phil Hughes started for the Yankees and pitched really well once again. The Yankees bullpen did a nice job and David Robertson returned to action. It appeared the Yankees would win their first game without hitting a homerun by Curtis Granderson ruined that by hitting a homer in the ninth inning. Gio Gonzalez started for the Nationals and pitched well, he had some bad luck in this game. Michael Morse and Jesus Flores led the Nationals offense. 
Hughes pitched six innings giving up one run on six hits with two walks and nine strikeouts. Hughes got the win and is now 7-5 on the season. Cody Eppley pitched a perfect inning, Clay Rapada pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts and Robertson pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with a strikeout. Robertson has missed some time and is working his way back into game shape. Gonzalez lost his third game of the season. He pitched six innings giving up five hits and three runs with two walks and eight strikeouts. Brad Lidge pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and three runs with two walks, Mike Gonzalez pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Tom Gorzelanny pitched two innings giving up three hits and a run with a strikeout.

Derek Jeter had two hits and an RBI, Granderson had two hits and three RBI and Mark Teixeira drew a walk. Alex Rodriguez had a hit and an RBI, Nick Swisher had two hits and an RBI and Andruw Jones had a hit. Russell Martin had a hit and drew two walks and Robinson Cano had a hit and drew a walk. Jeter and Granderson each had a double. Granderson also hit a homerun. The Yankees were 4-8 and left five men on base. Wise had a stolen base.

Steve Lombardozzi had a hit and drew a walk, Bryce Harper had a hit and Ryan Zimmerman had a hit. Adam LaRoche drew a walk, Michael Morse had two hits and an RBI and Ian Desmond had a hit. Espinosa had an RBI, Flores had two hits including a double. Morse also had a double. The Nationals were 1-8 with runners in scoring position and they left seven on base. Desmond committed an error and Lombardozzi had an outfield assist.

In the third inning the Yankees got on the board first. Rodriguez hit an RBI single and Swisher had an RBI single to make it 2-0. In the bottom of the third Morse hit an RBI single to make it a 2-1 game. In the seventh Jeter had an RBI single and another run scored on an error to make it a 4-1 game. Granderson hit a two run double to make it 6-1. In the ninth Granderson hit a solo homerun making it 7-1 Yankees, the Nationals scored their second and final run of the game in the bottom of the ninth. Espinosa had an RBI groundout.

The Yankees won their seventh straight game and are now 38-25 which is a season best 13 games over 500. The Nationals had their six game winning streak snapped and are now 38-24.

The Mets sweep the Tampa Bay Rays

The New York Mets swept the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday afternoon with a 9-6 victory. The game took place in Tampa, Florida. The Mets have now won three straight after losing three straight to the Yankees over the weekend. Johan Santana started for the Mets and struggled again. David Wright and Lucas Duda led their offense. Hideki Matsui, Ben Zobrist and Elliott Johnson all had good days for the Rays offensively. Jeremy Hellickson started for the Rays and did not pitch well.
Santana pitched five innings giving up six hits and four runs with four walks and six strikeouts. Santana earned his fourth win of the season. Jon Rauch pitched an inning with two strikeouts, Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Tim Byrdak pitched a perfect inning. Miguel Batista pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs with a walk and Frank Francisco earned his 16^th save of the season. Francisco pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk and striking out two. Hellickson lost his third game of the season. Hellickson pitched 3 2/3 innings giving up nine hits and eight runs with a walk. The Rays used four relievers to pitch 5 1/3 innings giving up three hits and a run. He walked three and struck out six batters.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis had two hits and three RBI, Jordany Valdespin had a hit and Wright had three hits and drew a walk. Duda had a hit and three RBI, Ike Davis had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk and Jason Bay had a hit, RBI and drew a walk. Josh Thole had a hit and Omar Quintanilla had a hit and drew a walk. Wright, Duda and Thole each had a double. Nieuwenhuis hit two homeruns and Bay hit a homerun. The Mets were 3-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Valdespin and Bay each had a stolen base. Nieuwenhuis committed an error.

Desmond Jennings had a hit and an RBI, Carlos Pena had a hit an RBI and drew a walk and B.J. Upton drew a walk. Matsui had two hits and drew a walk, Ben Zobrist had two hits an RBI and drew a walk and Matt Joyce had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk. Lobaton drew a walk and Johnson had two hits and an RBI. Joyce, Zobrist and Santana each hit a double. The Rays were 4-13 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base. Upton had a stolen base.

Nieuwenhuis hit a solo homerun in the first to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Bay hit a solo homerun in the second to extend the Mets lead to 2-0. Joyce hit a two run double and Johnson hit an RBI single to make it 3-2 Rays. In the third Duda hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at three and Davis had an RBI single. Zobrist hit an RBI double in the third. The score was 4-4 Rays. Nieuwenhuis hit a two run homerun in the fourth and Duda hit two run double to make it 8-4 Mets. In the ninth Davis hit an RBI single to make it 9-4. In the bottom of the ninth Jennings hit an RBI single and Pena reached on a fielders choice which scored a run and made it a 9-6 game.

The Mets record is now improved to 35-29 and the Rays are 35-28. The Mets will begin a nine game homestand on Friday night against the Cincinatti Reds.

The Mets thump the Rays 9-1 to win their second straight

The New York Mets defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 9-1. The game took place in St. Petersburg, FL on Wednesday night. The win was the second in a row for the Mets who were coming off being swept by the New York Yankees. R.A. Dickey started for the Mets and was brilliant. Ike Davis had another good game which is a good sign for him and the Mets. David Price started for the Rays and struggled. 
Dickey pitched nine innings giving up one hit and another base runner on an error. Dickey didn’t walk a batter and he struck out 12. Dickey is now 10-1 on the season and Price dropped to 8-4 on the season. Price pitched five innings giving up nine hits and seven runs with three walks and eight strikeouts. Badenhop pitched an inning giving up two hits, Jake McGee pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Wade Davis pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out two. J.P. Howell pitched an inning giving up three hits and two runs with a strikeout.

Andres Torres had three hits, Daniel Murphy had two hits and two RBI and David Wright had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk. Scott Hairston had a hit, Jason Bay had a hit and Vinny Rottino had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk. Lucas Duda drew a walk, Davis had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk and Mike Nickeas had two hits and an RBI. Omar Quintanilla had a hit and two RBI. Davis, Torres, Rottino, Murphy and Wright each had a double. The Mets were 7-14 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Rottino had a stolen base and Wright was caught stealing. Wright committed an error and Nickeas had two passed balls.

B.J. Upton had a hit and Desmond Jennings had an RBI. The Rays were 0-1 with runners in scoring position and left one man on base.

The Mets took a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning. Nickeas hit an RBI single and Murphy had a two run single. In the sixth Rottino had an RBI double and Davis had an RBI single. Quintanilla had a two run single to make it 7-0 Mets. Wright hit a two run double in the ninth to make it 9-0. The Rays would score a run in the bottom of the ninth on a Jennings groundout.

The Mets improved their record to 34-29 and the Rays record dropped to 35-27. The two teams will meet on Thursday afternoon for the third and final game of the series. The Mets will be looking for a series sweep.

The Yankees sweep the Braves to win their sixth straight

The New York Yankees defeated the Atlanta Braves by the score of 3-2 on Wednesday night. The win was the Yankees sixth win in a row, their second straight sweep over a National league team. The game took place in Atlanta Georgia at Turner Field. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and although he didn’t make it easy, he did pitch well. The bullpen was exceptional for the Yankees once again. Curtis Granderson had the big hit to lift the Yankees. Tim Hudson started for the Braves and pitched well and their bullpen did a good job. Brian McCann led the Braves offense. 
Kuroda pitched six innings giving up two runs on nine hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. Kuroda won his sixth game of the season. Boone Logan pitched a scoreless inning with two walks and a strikeout, Cody Eppley pitched an inning giving up two hits and Rafael Soriano pitched an inning giving up a hit. Soriano picked up his 11^th save in 12 chances. Hudson lost his third game for the Braves. Hudson pitched six innings giving up six hits and three runs. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out eight. Chad Durbin pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up a hit and a walk with two strikeouts. Jonny Venters pitched to one batter and struck them out and Craig Kimbrel pitched a perfect inning striking out the side.

Derek Jeter had two hits, Curtis Granderson had a hit and two RBI and Alex Rodriguez had a hit, RBI and drew a walk. Mark Teixeira had a hit, Nick Swisher had a hit and DeWayne Wise had a hit. Jeter had a double and Granderson hit a homerun. The Yankees were 1-4 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Wise had a stolen base and Swisher was caught stealing.

Michael Bourn had two hits, Martin Prado had two hits and McCann had two hits and two RBI. Dan Uggla drew a walk, Chipper Jones had a hit and drew a walk and Jason Heyward had two hits and drew a walk. Erik Hinske had a hit, Andrelton Simmons had two hits and drew a walk. Heyward had a double and McCann hit a homerun. The Braves were 2-13 with runners in scoring position and they left 13 men on base.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead on a Rodriguez RBI single in the first. In the fifth inning the Braves took a 2-1 lead on a McCann two run homerun. The Yankees grabbed back the lead in the sixth on a Granderson two run homerun. The final score would be 3-2 Yankees.

The Yankees won their sixth straight and improved to 37-25. The Braves record fell to 34-29 as they got swept in the three game series. The Yankees will have a day off on Thursday and then take on the Washington Nationals in a three game weekend series. The Yankees are in first place a game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles and two games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Mets blowout the Rays in Tampa

The New York Mets defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 11-2 on Tuesday night. Chris Young started for the Mets and pitched pretty well, the bullpen did a great job. Ike Davis was the hitting star as he has started to turn his season around. Alex Cobb started for the Rays and didn’t pitch great. Matt Joyce led the Rays offense. 
Young pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up nine hits and two runs. He walked two and struck out four. Young won his first game of the season. Jon Rauch faced one batter and retired him, Tim Byrdak pitched 2/3 of an inning walking two batters and Miguel Batista struck out the only batter that he faced. Elvin Ramirez pitched a perfect inning and Frank Francisco pitched a perfect inning. Cobb took the loss his third of the season pitching 6 2/3 innings with seven hits and six runs, five of them being earned. He walked three and struck out six. J.P. Howell pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up three hits and three runs and Cesar Ramos pitched two innings giving up four hits and two runs.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis had three hits and drew a walk, Jordany Valdespin had two hits and four RBI and David Wright had a hit and drew a walk. Lucas Duda had two hits and an RBI, Daniel Murphy had a hit and two RBI and Davis had two hits, three RBI and drew a walk. Josh Thole had a hit and Omar Quintanilla had two hits. Nieuwenhuis and Valdespin each had a double and Davis hit a homerun. The Mets were 6-13 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Valdespin and Wright each had a stolen base.

Carlos Pena drew two walks, B.J. Upton had two hits and Joyce had three hits. Hideki Matsui had a hit, RBI and drew a walk, Will Rhymes had an RBI and Elliott Johnson had a hit. Sean Rodriguez had two hits and drew a walk. Rodriguez had a double and the Rays were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and they left ten men on base. Johnson was caught stealing and Johnson and Jose Molina each committed an error.

The Mets scored a run in the first on an error with Valdespin scoring. The Rays came back and scored two runs to take a 2-1 lead. Matsui had an RBI single and Rhymes hit a sacrifice fly. In the fifth Valdespin had a two run single to make it a 3-2 game in favor of the Mets. The Mets broke the game open in the seventh with six runs to make it 9-2. Valdespin had an RBI double, Murphy had an RBI single and Davis hit a three run homerun. Valdespin had an RBI groundout and Duda had an RBI single in the eighth to complete the scoring. The final was 11-2 Mets.

The Mets ended their three game losing streak and improved their record to 33-29. The Rays record dropped to 35-26. The two teams will play game two of their three game series on Wednesday night.

The Yankees with a big comeback win in Atlanta to win their fifth straight

The New York Yankees defeated the Atlanta Braves by the score of 6-4. The Yankees were completely shutdown for seven innings. They struck for six runs in the eighth inning and the bullpen was able to hold it down. Alex Rodriguez was the star of the game for the Yankees. CC Sabathia started and struggled once again although he was able to battle and give them seven innings. Mike Minor pitched great but was lifted in the eighth due to pitch count. The Braves bullpen struggled and blew the game for them. 
Sabathia pitched seven innings giving up ten hits and four runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Sabathia is now 8-3 on the season as he got the win. Clay Rapada pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out one, Rafael Soriano saved his tenth game of the season with a 1-2-3 inning including two strikeouts. Minor pitched 7 1/3 innings giving up one run on five hits, he walked one and struck out four. Jonny Venters lost his third game of the season giving up three hits and four runs with a walk without recording an out. Cory Gearrin pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run and he struck out one and Cristhian Martinez pitched an inning walking one and striking out one.

Derek Jeter had two hits, Curtis Granderson had two hits and Mark Teixeira drew three walks. Rodriguez had a hit and four RBI, Robinson Cano had a hit and Nick Swisher had two hits and two RBI. Chris Stewart had a hit, Swisher had a double and Rodriguez had a homerun which was a grand slam. The grand slam was the 23^rd of his career tying him with Lou Gehrig for most all-time. The Yankees were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Wise had a stolen base.

Michael Bourn had a hit for the Braves. Martin Prado had a hit, Brian McCann had two hits and Dan Uggla had a hit and drew two walks. Matt Diaz had a hit and three RBI, Jason Heyward had an RBI and Chipper Jones had two hits. Andrelton Simmons had two hits and drew a walk, McCann had two doubles and Diaz had a double. Uggla and Simmons each had a double. The Braves were 1-10 with runners in scoring position and they left nine men on base. Bourn had a stolen base.

Diaz hit a three run double in the first to give the Braves a 3-0 lead. The Braves extended their lead to 4-0 in the seventh on a Heyward RBI groundout. The Yankees struck in the eighth after doing basically nothing for seven innings. Rodriguez hit a grand slam and Swisher hit a two run homerun and it was 6-4 Yankees. The Yankees bullpen would hold on and that would be the final score.

The win was the Yankees fifth in a row and brought them a season high 11 games over 500. They have a record of 36-25. They are now alone in first place in the AL East one game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays who lost to the New York Mets on Tuesday night. The Braves record dropped to 34-28. The Yankees will be looking for the three game sweep on Wednesday night. The Yankees will then have a day off on Thursday and play a three game weekend series in Washington against the Nationals.

Yankees postgame notes from Atlanta

Here are the postgame notes after a Yankees victory in Atlanta on Monday night.  The Yankees have won four games in a row and are tied for first place in the AL East with the Tampa Bay Rays.  They are also tied for best record in the American League.  Who would of though that just a couple of weeks ago.  The Yankees are getting great starting pitching and that is what is really carrying them.  Thanks to the Lohud Yankees blog for the notes and my thoughts are mixed in.

An American League pitcher with a base hit. Give him seven scoreless innings that push his team into first place, and still nothing makes him smile more than a meaningless single to right field.
“I got (the ball),” Ivan Nova said, grinning like you wouldn’t believe. “It’s going right next to my bed. When I was young I wanted to be like a big big-league hitter.”

Nova settled for being a pitcher, and tonight he was an awfully good one. Which is to say, he was very nearly a bad one but found a way to pitch the Yankees back into a tie for first place in the American League East.  The hits for these pitchers are exciting but also scary since they never run or hit.  There have been some Yankees injuries over the years. 

There’s nothing about the pitching line to suggest Nova was struggling. He went seven scoreless, walking one, striking out six and allowing five hits, all of them singles. The Braves put one runner into scoring position. But Nova also fell behind in the count a lot, and he put the leadoff man on base five times. His defense helped him out — including a fine play of his own — and Nova made big pitches when he had to. That’s what carried him, and the Yankees for that matter.  The defense and offense usually seem to step up when Nova is on the mound. 

“I didn’t have my best stuff tonight, but I had a game plan in my mind,” Nova said. “I followed it really good today and I made a pitch when I needed it. … When you have your best stuff to pitch, it’s easy. When you don’t have your best stuff, you’ve got to fight.”
Tonight, Nova fought. And he won. He said his fastball command wasn’t particularly good, and that’s usually key for him. But he got away with a few mistakes, made a few big pitches and got huge plays out of Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and himself (snagging a line drive to start a double play in the Braves two-hit third).

“Our innings were kind of long in between, so I’m not sure if he ever got to a real rhythm,” Joe Girardi said. “I thought he battled and gave us a strong seven innings. He got some big double plays, and he made the pitches when he had to. That says a lot. It’s not always going to be easy when you’re out there, where everything just goes your way, and you’re ahead of everyone, and you look up and you’re 1-2 on everyone, and there’s not a lot of runners on base.”
But enough of this pitching nonsense. Nova wants to tell you about his hit…

“I was ready to hack the first pitch, but he was throwing hard,” Nova said. “I see that ball like 100 (mph). After the second pitch I was just trying to make contact. I wasn’t thinking about getting on base or anything like that, I just wanted to make contact. I didn’t want to strike out. I got a pretty good swing on it. It was fun.”
It must have been fun. For so many reasons.
Girardi’s perfectly accurate and perfectly hilarious assessment of Nova’s second-inning single and the following job to first base: “He hit a rocket,” Girardi said. “I found out he doesn’t have a lot of speed.” Nova didn’t argue about his time from home to first. “That’s why I’m pitching,” he said.

 Boone Logan closed out the win but didn’t get a save. All told, Logan, Cory Wade, Clay Rapada and Cody Eppley combined for two hitless, walkless innings with three strikeouts.  He didn't get a save because he only faced two batters, they mixed and matched the last two innings. 

 Rafael Soriano said he’s never had a blister problem and could have pitched tonight if necessary. “I’ll come back tomorrow and do my work and my throwing and everything and we’ll see after that,” he said.  It is always better to be safe then sorry, he should be ok tonight but we will see. 

 Nova on the line drive that he turned into a double play in the third: “I don’t really see that ball. It went right into my glove. I just react. I can’t say I was real good and I went to catch that ball. I just reacted, and I got the double play.”

 Swisher on his leaping catch in the fourth: “McCann’s got some serious thunder that way. In a situation like that, we’re kind of playing a little deeper in that spot. I just happened to get up on it. White men can jump, you know?”  It was a funny statement from Swisher but a great play that could of changed the game. 

Swisher’s far more honest assessment of his catch: “I made it look a lot cooler than what it really was.”

The Yankees are winning — obviously — but this was another night of 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and Girardi took a different approach when asked about it. “Let’s not (talk about it) and let’s see if it changes,” he said. “Let’s try a different way, and let’s see if it changes.” When it was brought up again, Girardi literally screamed — he claimed to be doing a Kramer imitation — to signal that he didn’t want to talk about it. He wasn’t really avoiding the question, just having some fun with the writers, and it was honestly pretty funny. Truth be told, what more can he say about the RISP problem at this point?  There really is nothing to say, they aren't getting the job done and have to find a way, that is all you can say. 

 Would Girardi have sent Nova back out for the eighth inning if he didn’t have to hit in the top of the inning? “It would have been a question,” Girardi said. “First humid night we’ve had, and he had to work really hard. He started getting some balls up, so I probably would have made the change. He would’ve had one more hitter, at the most, in the American League game.”

 Robinson Cano was the only Yankees hitter with more than one hit. He had his 20th multi-hit game of the year and brought his hitting streak to nine games, during which he’s hitting .342. He’s had more than one hit in four of those nine games.

 Raul Ibanez’s second-inning homer was his 10th of the year, but his first since May 20 against the Reds.

 Wise words from Ibanez on winning the series opener: “It’s always important to win the first one,” he said. “And equally important to win the second one.”

 And leave it to Swisher to come up with the good quote about being back in first place. “It’s nice to kind of be back in this spot,” Swisher said. “Because this is where we feel we belong.”  They do always feel that way, definitely not at the bottom like they were. 

The Yankees win their fourth straight game in Atlanta as they shutout the Braves

The New York Yankees defeated the Atlanta Braves by the score of 3-0. Ivan Nova started for the Yankees and pitched well. The Yankees used a mix and match bullpen as their closer Rafael Soriano was out with a blister. Robinson Cano led the Yankees offense which wasn’t great, they left a lot of runners on base. Delgado pitched ok, he bent but didn’t break. Delgado didn’t have good command and was only able to last five innings. The Braves bullpen did a good job of holding the Yankees down. 
Nova pitched seven innings giving up no runs on five hits with a walk and he struck out six. Nova improved to 8-2 and has won his last four starts. Cody Eppley faced one batter and retired him, Clay Rapada retired both batters that he faced striking out one and Cory Wade struck out the only batter that he faced. Boone Logan faced two batters retiring them both, one of them by strikeout. Delgado lost his sixth game of the season pitching five innings giving up five hits and three runs with six walks and five strikeouts. Gearrin pitched two innings giving up three hits and a walk with a strikeout, Chad Durbin pitched an inning striking out a batter and Venters pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Curtis Granderson had a hit and drew a walk and Alex Rodriguez had a hit and drew a walk. Cano had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk, Mark Teixeira had a hit and drew a walk and Raul Ibanez had a hit and an RBI. Nick Swisher drew two walks, Nova had a hit his first major league hit. Rodriguez and Cano each had a double and Ibanez hit a homerun. The Yankees were 1-8 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base.

Michael Bourn had a hit, Martin Prado had a hit and Dan Uggla drew a walk. Chipper Jones had a hit, Jason Heyward had a hit and Delgado had a hit. The Braves were 0-1 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base. Jones committed an error.

Cano hit an RBI single in the first to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Ibanez hit a solo homerun in the second to extend the lead to 2-0. In the third a wild pitch gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead. That was all the scoring in the game although the Yankees had plenty of chances to break the game open. The Yankees problem this year has been hitting with runners in scoring position, that was a problem in this game although they won the game.

The Yankees have won four straight and are tied for first place in the AL East with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees are also tied for best record in the American League. The two teams will play game two of their three game series on Tuesday night.

Yankees Sunday evening postgame notes

Here are the postgame notes from Sunday evening after the Yankees swept their cross town rivals the New York Mets.  The notes are courtesy of the Lohud Yankees Blog by Chad Jennings.  He does a great job. 

Kevin Long doesn’t remember when exactly the conversation took place, but he remembers that it was Russell Martin’s idea. Martin wanted to back away from the plate a little bit, stand just far enough that he could cover the inner half a little better.

“I felt like I was getting tied up inside and I felt like I was starting to pull off the ball early with my stride,” Martin explained. “Now I kind of just evened out my stride, and I feel like I’m ready to drive the ball the other way more with more ease. I was fighting to do it before.”

In his past 12 games, Martin has raised his batting average from .173 to .216. He’s homered four times in his past six games, including two big ones tonight. His seventh-inning shot got just over Scott Hairston’s glove in right field. His walk-off went a few rows deep in left.

“It’s really worked out for him,” Long said. “(Martin) said, ‘I’m going to back off the plate. Maybe that’ll get my stride direction good and I’ll just look out over the plate. If they do come in, I should be able to react.’ It was solely him. … He was frustrated a little bit, but he kept believing that all his hard work — everything he’d done through the winter and up to this point — was going to pay off. It’s starting to show real good signs, especially this month. He’s been on fire.”

The change itself is hard to notice, but the impact seems to be significant. Maybe some of it is simply the law of averages — Martin was surely not going to hit .180 all year — but he’s become a more productive player, and today Martin was pivotal in securing a series sweep and sending the Yankees on the road with 13 wins in their past 17 games. The Yankees are playing well, and finally, their catcher is contributing at the plate.

“With this team, up and down the lineup, guys have the ability to hit,” Martin said. “Luckily for me, I had guys that picked up my slack earlier in the year. Not that I’m here for my bat or anything like that, but it definitely feels good to be able to contribute a little bit. I never felt too much pressure. I just kept trying to do my thing defensively and try to call good games. Now that I’m swinging the bat good, it’s even better.”

Andy Pettitte said his command was off early in the game, but he was able to find it later on. He finished with eight strikeouts and looked tremendous in every inning except the second. “I felt good,” Pettitte said. “I felt a tick off early, the first inning or two. I felt good, just felt a tick off, like I just wasn’t quite getting the ball where I wanted to. After that I felt like I had been feeling. I felt like my command was really good.”

 Even that second inning didn’t include a lot of hard-hit balls, and if Robinson Cano hadn’t made his error, Pettitte might have gotten out of the inning with just one run. As it was, the big hit was a softly hit double. “The ball bounced right over first base for a double down the line,” Pettitte said. “I wasn’t even trying to throw that pitch for a strike. I’d just got strike one on him and I was trying to throw a ball up and in on him to get him off the plate. That was extremely frustrating.”

 Pettitte has struck out at least eight batters in each of his last four home starts. It’s the longest such streak of his career. CC Sabathia is the only other Yankees starter to compile such a streak in the past nine years.

The Yankees have been talking about hitting into hard outs and hoping it will eventually even out. Today it evened out a little bit in the eighth inning when four straight singles — some of which weren’t hit very good — led to the tying and go-ahead runs. “We made a lot of hard outs early in the game and ended up with some really hard double plays,” Mark Teixeira said. “That happens. In the eighth we just got lucky, found some holes and took advantage of maybe a little lapse of defense. That was the ballgame.”

This was the Yankees first walk-off home run of the year, and it was their first walk-off against the Mets since Luis Castilla dropped that popup in 2009. … It was the Yankees 18th comeback win of the season, and their fourth by at least three runs. … The Yankees were 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position, with all three hits coming in the eighth inning.

This was the third time this season that the Yankees grounded into three double plays.

 Martin on his first home run: “I thought he caught the ball at first. For a split second, I thought I was out. The next thing you know, I’m rounding the bases. Rounding the bases is a lot better than taking a right turn back to the dugout.”

Derek Jeter on Martin’s first home run: “I was in the bathroom at the time,” Jeter said. “So I didn’t see the moment, I just heard, but I heard something good happened. Just trying to be honest with you.”

Jayson Nix drew some raves in the clubhouse for his play in the eighth inning, getting the lead runner at third base on a fairly routine grounder to shortstop. “It’s a heads-up play by him,” Jeter said. “You have to think about it before you do it, you can’t just catch it and then make up your mind. He obviously thought about it before, and that was a big part of the game.”

Jeter got some raves of his own for taking second base on that eighth-inning error. “I knew I was taking a chance,” Jeter said. “I saw it took sort of a funny hop on him and took a chance.”

 Rafael Soriano blew a save for the first time this season. He was booed coming off the mound. “I don’t care about the fans’ (reaction) because nobody is perfect in this game,” he said. “To me, it happened today. Come back tomorrow and try to save the game.”

Soriano said he didn’t feel sharp today and didn’t have a problem with Girardi bringing in Boone Logan with the go-ahead run at third base. “I tried to pitch the best that I can, and that thing happens,” Soriano said. “I don’t think I had a good fastball today, nothing like that. No excuse.”

 Dave Robertson pitched a scoreless inning with one strikeout for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this afternoon. It was his first rehab game since straining his oblique last month.

 Hiroki Kuroda reported no problems with his left foot during today’s bullpen. He’s expected to make his next start in Atlanta.

 As you might have guessed, Girardi did not call for Nick Swisher to bunt today. “No,” Girardi said. “We were down three runs, and he was just trying to get on base. That’s what he was trying to do, but as I told him, he’s capable of hitting the ball out of the ballpark down three runs.”

You might have noticed that Martin fell at home plate during the walk-off celebration. “I tried to jump in the air to celebrate, and I got about two inches off the ground,” he said. “Still managed to touch home plate.”

The New York Yankees sweep the New York Mets on a walkoff homerun

The New York Yankees defeated the New York Mets on Sunday afternoon by the score of 5-4. It was a good game that went back and forth in the last couple of innings. Andy Pettite and Jon Niese were the starters and they each pitched well. The bullpens of each team struggled a little bit but the Yankees bullpen was a little bit better and that was the difference. Russell Martin led the Yankees offense, the Mets got a big pinch hit from Ike Davis. 
Pettitte pitched six innings giving up three runs with two of them being earned. He gave up five hits and walked two batters and struck out eight. Clay Rapada pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout, Cory Wade pitched an inning giving up a walk and struck out one and Rafael Soriano blew his first save in ten chances. He pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up three hits, and a run and Boone Logan earned his first win of the season pitching 2/3 of an inning and striking out one. Niese pitched seven innings giving up seven hits and two runs with none of them being earned. He walked one and struck out six. Bobby Parnell didn’t record an out and gave up four hits and two runs, Tim Byrdak pitched 2/3 of an inning retiring both batters and Jon Rauch lost his sixth game of the season pitching 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout.

Derek Jeter had two hits, Curtis Granderson had two hits and Mark Teixeira had two hits and an RBI. Alex Rodriguez had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Robinson Cano had two hits and Martin had two hits and three RBI. Jayson Nix had a hit, Martin had two homeruns. The Yankees were 3-11 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Cano committed an error and Pettitte picked off two runners.

Andres Torres drew a walk, David Wright had a hit and drew a walk and Scott Hairston had two hits. Lucas Duda had a hit, Vinny Rottino had a hit and an RBI and Omar Quintanilla drew a walk. Daniel Murphy had a hit, Jordany Valdespin had a hit and two RBI. Hairston, Valdespin, Duda and Davis each hit a double. The Mets were 3-10 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Rottino had a stolen base, Hairston and Wright were both picked off. Wright and Quintanilla both committed an error.

The Mets took a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Rottino hit an RBI single and Valdespin had a two run double. In the seventh Martin hit a two run homerun to make it a 3-2 game in favor of the Mets. In the bottom of the eighth Teixeira hit an RBI single to tie the game at three. Rodriguez hit an RBI single to make it 4-3 Yankees. In the ninth Davis hit an RBI single to tie the game at four. In the bottom of the ninth Martin hit a walk off solo homerun to make it 5-4 and give the Yankees the win.

The Yankees swept the three game series. The Yankees improved their record to 34-25 and the Mets record dropped to 32-29. The Mets will be off on Monday before heading to Tampa Bay for a three game series. The Yankees will head down to Atlanta to begin a three game series beginning on Monday night. The Yankees are ½ a game out of first behind the Tampa Bay Rays. They are tied in the loss column.

The Yankees take game two of the Subway Series 4-2 over the Mets

The New York Yankees defeated the New York Mets on Saturday night by the score of 4-2. The Yankees have now won the first two games of the series and will go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,NY. Phil Hughes started for the Yankees and was good and their bullpen held the lead. Dillon Gee started for the Mets and was good, Bobby Parnell wasn’t so good. Mark Teixeira led the Yankees offense and Omar Quintanilla led the Mets offense. 
Hughes pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up six hits and two runs with two walks and six strikeouts. He gave up a couple of solo homeruns, he has given up at least one homerun in every game he has pitched this year. Hughes improved his record to 6-5. Boone Logan faced one batter and retired him, Cory Wade pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and Clay Rapada pitched 2/3 of an inning retiring both batters that he faced. Rafael Soriano pitched one inning giving up a hit and a walk. Soriano earned his ninth save of the season and is now 9-9 on the season. Gee took the loss and is now 4-4 on the season, he pitched seven innings giving up five hits and three runs with three walks and five strikeouts. Parnell pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with two strikeouts.

Derek Jeter had a hit and drew a walk, Curtis Granderson had a hit, RBI and drew a walk and Alex Rodriguez had a hit and an RBI. Robinson Cano had a hit, Teixeira had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk. Raul Ibanez had a hit, Teixeira and Granderson each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 2-5 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a hit and drew a walk, Scott Hairston had a hit and David Wright had a hit and an RBI. Lucas Duda had a hit, Ike Davis had a hit and drew two walks and Josh Thole had a hit. Quintanilla had two hits and an RBI including his first major league homerun. Nieuwenhuis had a double, Quintanilla and Wright each hit a homerun. The Mets were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base. Hairston had a stolen base and Nieuwenhuis was caught stealing.

In the bottom of the first Rodriguez had an RBI single to make it 1-0 Yankees. In the third the Mets tied the score at one on a Quintanilla solo homerun. Wright hit a solo homerun in the sixth to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. Teixeira hit a two run homerun to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning. Granderson hit a solo homerun in the eighth which would be the last run of the game.

The Yankees will go for the three game sweep on Sunday afternoon and the Mets will try and avoid that. The Yankees record improved to 33-25 and the Mets record dropped to 32-28.