The New York Mets rally to defeat the Miami Marlins

The New York Mets defeated the Miami Marlins by the score of 5-3 on Saturday night. The game took place at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida. Jeremy Hefner started for the Mets and pitched pretty well, the bullpen was good. Kelly Shoppach led the Mets offense. Josh Johnson pitched great for the Marlins and their bullpen blew the game. Carlos Lee led the Marlins offense. 
Hefner pitched six innings giving up six hits and two runs with a walk and four strikeouts. Manny Acosta pitched a perfect inning and struck out the sides, Ramon Ramirez picked up his third win of the season pitching an inning giving up a hit and a run with a walk and Frank Francisco pitched a perfect inning picking up his 23^rd save of the season. He had a strikeout. Johnson pitched eight innings giving up three hits and a run with two walks and four strikeouts. Cishek pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up four hits and four runs with three of them earned and a walk and strikeout. He blew his fourth save of the season and lost his second game. Heath Bell struck out the only batter that he faced.

Ruben Tejada had a hit, Daniel Murphy had a hit and David Wright had a hit and drew a walk. Ike Davis drew a walk, Lucas Duda had a hit and an RBI and Mike Baxter had a hit. Andres Torres drew a walk, Josh Thole had a hit and an RBI and Shoppach had a hit and two RBI. Baxter hit a double, The Mets were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.

Bryan Petersen had a hit and an RBI, Justin Ruggiano drew a walk and Jose Reyes had a hit and drew a walk. Lee had three hits and an RBI, Giancarlo Stanton had a hit and an RBI and Donovan Solano had a hit. Petersen hit a double, the Marlins were 3-9 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Reyes had a stolen base, Ruggiano committed an error.

In the third Petersen hit an RBI double to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead. The Mets tied the game in the fifth as Thole grounded out to tie the game at one. Stanton hit an RBI single in the sixth inning to give the Marlins a 2-1 lead. Lee hit an RBI single in the eighth to give the Marlins a 3-1 lead. In the ninth the Mets rallied and took a 4-3 lead and then held on for the win. Duda hit an RBI single, Shoppach hit a two run single.

The Mets have now won six out of seven and two in a row. The Mets record improved to 63-70. The Marlins record dropped to 59-74. The two teams will play the third and final game of the series on Sunday afternoon. The Mets will then head to St. Louis for three games.

New York Yankees even the series with the Baltimore Orioles with a come from behind victory

The New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 4-3 on Saturday afternoon. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. David Phelps started and never had his control. The Yankees bullpen was great, Eduardo Nunez had a huge hit. Wei-Yin Chen started for the Orioles and pitched well, their bullpen cost them the game. Manny Machado led the Orioles offense. 
Phelps pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up three runs on three hits with six walks and three strikeouts. Cody Eppley faced one batter and retired him, Boone Logan picked up his sixth win pitching two innings giving up a hit and two walks with a strikeout and David Robertson pitched a perfect inning. Rafael Soriano pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts and picked up his 35^th save of the season. Chen lost his eighth game of the season pitching 6 2/3 innings giving up four hits and four runs with three of them being earned. He walked two and struck out four, Pedro Strop gave up two walks without recording an out, Brian Matusz retired the only batter that he faced and Darren O’Day pitched a perfect inning.

Derek Jeter had an RBI and drew a walk, Nick Swisher had a hit and Robinson Cano had a hit and an RBI. Steve Pearce had a hit, Jayson Nix drew two walks and Eduardo Nunez had a hit and an RBI. Ichiro Suzuki drew a walk, Cano hit a homerun and the Yankees were 1-3 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Phelps and Nix committed an error. Phelps had a pickoff.

Nick Markakis drew two walks, J.J. Hardy had a hit and drew a walk and Nate McClouth drew a walk. Adam Jones drew a walk, Matt Wieters had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Mark Reynolds drew two walks. Machado had two hits and an RBI, Wieters hit a homerun and the Orioles were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Reynolds was picked off and Hardy committed an error.

In the first the Orioles took a 1-0 lead after a walk and single and then groundout. In the second the Orioles took a 2-0 lead on a Machado RBI single. Wieters hit a solo homerun in the fourth to make it 3-0 Orioles. Cano got the Yankees on the board in the fourth with a solo homerun making it a 3-1 game. In the seventh the Yankees rallied for three runs to take the lead and they would hold on to win 4-3. Nunez hit an RBI single, Jeter walked to tie the game and Swisher reached on an error scoring the winning run.

The Yankees and Orioles have split the first two games and will play the rubber game of the series on Sunday afternoon. The Yankees record improved to 76-56 and the Orioles record dropped to 73-59. The Yankees lead is back up to three games in the AL East over the Orioles.

Yankees Friday postgame notes

Here are the Yankees Friday night postgame notes after a lackluster loss where their division lead was cut down to two games.  The two teams will play Saturday afternoon and the Orioles can make it really tight with a win, the Yankees can breathe a little if they win and bump that lead back up to three games.  Here are the notes courtesy of the Lohud Yankees blog and my own thoughts are mixed in like always. 

Much of the talk before tonight’s series opener with the Baltimore Orioles centered around the Yankees not panicking despite the fact that their lead in the division had been cut down to three games. Players seemed loose in the clubhouse, and Joe Girardi smiled when asked questions about the Yanks’ shrinking cushion in the AL East.

But after the Orioles cut that lead to two games with Friday’s 6-1 win — a game in which the Yankees never really seemed to be in it — a bit of reality seems to be setting in.

“It’s that time of year where we know what’s going on,” Eric Chavez said.

For the most part, the Yankees still chalked this loss up as one of those games, but there’s no denying that they have not been playing well of late. Tonight’s loss is their seventh in their last 10 games, and there’s no doubt that they need to turn things around if they want to hold onto first place.  If they keep playing like that, they don't deserve first place, you don't want to be in a one game playoff so they better get it together here, it should help to get some guys back.  They should have Tex and Arod back shortly. 

“I probably said that about two weeks ago,” Girardi said. “When we got swept in Chicago, I said, ‘We need to play better.’ When we lost two out of three to Toronto, I said, ‘We need to play better.’ As I’ve said, there are going to be low points and high points during the season. You’ve got to find a way to get out of this little rut we’re in.”

Girardi is not your typical rah-rah type of manager, but he was asked after the game if he would feel the need to speak with his team if this skid continues.

“If I did,” he said. “Do you think I would tell you?”

While the Yankees looked lost at the plate for most of tonight’s game, O’s starter Miguel Gonzalez deserves a lot of credit. He was good against the Yankees the last time that he faced them, and he was even better this time around. Traditionally, the Yanks can be caught off guard when they haven’t seen a pitcher before, but they tend to catch up quickly after that. Gonzalez didn’t allow that, giving Baltimore seven shutout innings while striking out nine and allowing only four hits. “The ball was exploding out of his hand,” Chavez said. “The board said 91, 92, but it felt like 95.”  It could of been just that this guy is good, but the Yankees bats have to wake up starting Saturday. 

Aside from a deceptive fastball, there were two things that Gonzalez did very well: He got ahead in counts, and he mixed in his offspeed pitches well. A couple of Yankee hitters said they thought his split-finger was especially nasty tonight. “You’ve got to stay in attack mode against these really good lineups,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “As soon as they feel some anxiety or that you’re picking around the strike zone, it doesn’t bode well for you.”

 As Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda said after the game, “I think it’s pretty similar to my last outing. One mistake pitch too many.” Kuroda gave up some runs early to the Cleveland Indians in his last start before settling down, and that’s pretty much how it went tonight. He gave up a sac fly to Chris Davis and a two-run homer to Mark Reynolds in the second to give the O’s a 3-0 lead before promptly retiring the next nine batters that he faced. That streak was broken when he gave up a solo homer to J.J. Hardy in the top of the sixth.  He wasn't great but it looked a lot worse because the offense did nothing.  He keeps the Yankees in the game but in this one unless you threw a shutout the Yankees weren't going to win. 

Kuroda ended up giving the Yankees 8 1/3 innings while allowing the four runs, and he was asked after the game if it weighs on him when his offense isn’t backing him up. “In order to win, I have to minimize the damage to less than what we can score,” he said. “It’s really tough to face these situations.”

The Yankees best opportunity to get to Gonzalez came in the bottom of the sixth. Ichiro led off with a single, which was followed by a Jayson Nix walk. That set the table for the most formidable portion of this version of the Yankees lineup, but Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano went down in order. “I’m not an excuse guy,” Swisher said. “Just a bad game for us. We have to put this game behind us, and I can’t wait for tomorrow.”  They have been bad all year long with runners in scoring position and now it is catching up to them.

Out of all of the Yankees, Swisher had the most forgettable night. For the first time since 2006, he struck out in all four plate appearances. He has had four strikeout games since 2006, but not in a game in which he only came up four times. As reporters asked Swish about Gonzalez after the game, he responded, “I’m not the right guy to ask. I didn’t do too much against him tonight.”  It is like in the playoffs with him, he shrinks in big situations.  I don't think he will be around next year for that reason.

 Before the game, Girardi had talked about some signs that he would look for to see if his team was pressing. He talked about wanting to see guys smiling and enjoying themselves, but he also spoke about looking at their approaches at the plate — if they’re hacking away at bad pitches or seem too anxious. When asked if he had noticed any of those things in tonight’s game, he didn’t seem to think so. “I think the effort’s there,” he said. “It’s really kind of hard to judge if youre going to be satisfied with a guy’s at-bat, because then you’re asking me to get into people’s minds. But I didn’t see guys trying to do too much.”

Alex Rodriguez went 0 for 3 with a walk and a run scored for Single-A Tampa tonight in his first action in over a month. He grounded out to short in his first at-bat, walked in his second, and then struck out in his final two plate appearances. For more on that, here is a story from Newsday’s Greg Auman. A-Rod could be back as soon as next week, and Girardi was asked if he’s the type of spark that the team needs right now. “You hope he comes back swinging like he did before he got hurt,” he said. “That’s the idea. This is a guy that’s supposed to be an impact player for us, so you hope he makes a big impact.”

Swisher mentioned A-Rod as a guy that the team looks to for leadership in these situations, along with Jeter. “We look to them for guidance,” he said.

 I’ll give the final word to Showalter, whose team has shaved eight games off of the Yankees’ lead in six weeks: “I’m proud of our players. There will be another challenge. We’re going to sleep quickly. We’ve almost made it to September, what do we have, a couple of hours? I think we all know, it’s a given, what the Yankees are about and what they can do. We have to continue to stay focused on what we have to do and stay in the moment, which our guys have done such a great job with all year.”

New York Giants prepare for season opener on Wednesday night

Just six days before they host the Dallas Cowboys, the Giants today reached the 53-man regular-season roster limit and the lists of the players let go and those remaining included the usual assortment of minor surprises. Friday was the final cut down day and the setting of the roster as it will look on Wednesday for the regular season opener against the Dallas Cowboys at home.  This came courtesy of Giants.com and I added a couple of my own thoughts also. 

Terrell Thomas the fifth-year cornerback, and Shaun Rogers the 12-year veteran defensive tackle, were placed on injured reserve. D.J. Ware and Greg Jones were cut.
The Giants had to make 22 moves to get down to 53. In addition to placing Terrell Thomas and Rogers on IR, here’s what they did:

*Cornerback Bruce Johnson was waived/injured.

*Besides Ware’s, the contracts of four other veterans were terminated: cornerback Dante Hughes defensive tackle Marcus Thomaswide receiver Isaiah Stanback and offensive lineman Chris White.

*Thirteen players were waived: Jones, wide receivers David Douglas and Dan DePalma defensive ends Craig Marshall and Matt Broha defensive tackle Dwayne Hendricks linebacker Jake Muasau tight end Larry Donnell offensive linemen Matt McCants, Selvish Capers and Stephen Goodin quarterback Ryan Perrilloux and defensive back Laron Scott.

*Safety Tyler Sash has begun serving his four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. Sash can rejoin the team on Oct. 1.

“It’s always difficult to release players that have been here and have really worked hard and have earned our respect and our admiration,” coach Tom Coughlin said. “Those are guys like Dwayne Hendricks, who I have great respect for, and DePalma, who has worked hard for us for a couple of years and has done a good job. Isaiah Stanback is another guy who has done an outstanding job here and worked hard and really gained our respect.” It is tough but they have to let a certain number of guys go.

“Greg Jones was a very difficult decision to make,” Coughlin said. “Danny Ware was here for a while and any time you have those relationships with people, it’s tough to see them go. Fortunately, these are men and they understand that decisions have to be made.”


The current makeup of the team includes 16 players (30.2 percent) who were not on the 53-man roster when the Giants won Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5. The list includes five 2012 draft choices (Wilson, Randle, Hosley, Robinson and Kuhn); four veteran free agents (Bennett, Rivers, Locklear and Stevie Brown); Andre Brown (a 2009 Giants draft choice) and Tracy (a 2010 selection) who were on the practice squad for the entire 2011 season; Austin, who spent last season on injured reserve; Hill, a first-year free agent, and Ojomo, a rookie free agent; and Tryon and Coe, cornerbacks who played for the Giants last year before going on injured reserve.

“The roster turnover is always about one-third in my mind,” Coughlin said. “I don’t think the guys that have been here are turnover guys. They were on the team and they were injured. They have experience with us and I think that’s the way to look at it.”

Ojomo arrived at camp as a relative unknown – he started only 14 games at the University of Miami – but was relentless in his play and led the Giants with 4.0 sacks in the preseason.

“There is a perfect example of a young man for whom preparation meant opportunity and he succeeded,” Coughlin said. “He worked and he worked and he worked and he enjoyed playing. He got confident. He sized up the opponent and he made timely, timely plays throughout the entire preseason. He played on special teams. He earned the opportunity to have his spot.”

The Giants can still reshape their roster prior to the opener. But that might be less likely this year than in other seasons, because they play on Wednesday, four days before most teams begin their season.

Some of the players who were waived will be asked to join the eight-man practice squad, which the Giants can begin constructing at noon tomorrow.

Terrell Thomas and Rogers had held out hope that they would avoid injured reserve and be able to play this season.

Thomas spent the entire 2011 on I.R. after tearing his right ACL in a preseason game vs. Chicago on Aug. 22. He entered training camp last month looking to regain his starting right cornerback job but aggravated the repaired knee early in camp. Thomas said he expected to play this year, but the Giants believe that is not possible and placed him on injured reserve.

Rogers was diagnosed with a blood clot after the preseason opener in Jacksonville three weeks ago. Coughlin initially said Rogers would miss the entire season, then expressed a glimmer of hope he might get back on the field. That hope ended today.

Ware was the longest-tenured player who was released. He had been with the team since 2007 and earned two Super Bowl rings. But the Giants chose to keep Scott and Andre Brown behind Bradshaw and Wilson.

“There was good competition at that running back spot,” Coughlin said. “Andre Brown and Da’Rel Scott have both earned the right and they’ve both proven that they can be special teams contributors as well, which is what we were looking for.”

Ware was signed by the Giants off the Jets’ practice squad on Dec. 4, 2007. In five seasons he played in 45 regular-season games with one start and played in four postseason games with one start. Ware’s regular-season totals included 81 rushing attempts for 324 yards (4.0-yard avg.) and one touchdown, 37 receptions for 252 yards and 25 kickoff returns for 486 yards (19.4-yard avg.). Ware has also scored twice on 2-point conversions. In the postseason, Ware had four rushing attempts for 10 yards and two receptions for 21 yards.

In 2011, Ware played in all 16 regular-season games for the first time with one start and played in all four postseason games with one start. He had career-high totals of 46 rushing attempts for 163 yards – both third on the team – with a long run of 17 yards, and 27 catches for 170 yards with a long reception of 22 yards.

Jones was a sixth-round draft choice in 2011, when he played in every game as a rookie, with five starts. He finished the regular season with 25 defensive tackles (22 solo) and six special teams tackles (four solo). In the postseason, he led the Giants with seven special teams tackles (six solo). Jones was the only Giants rookie to start the season opener at Washington on Sept. 11. He had four solo tackles, including one on the game’s first play. Jones was the first Giants rookie linebacker to start on opening day since Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor in 1981, the first defensive rookie to start an opener since tackle Barry Cofield in 2006 and the first rookie to start since tight end Michael Matthews in 2007. He also started the following week vs. St. Louis but his playing time diminished as the season wore on.

“There were a lot of numbers issues (at different positions) and you can’t keep everybody,” Coughlin said. “You don’t like to let a guy go that has played and contributed and done the things that Greg has done. However, the unfortunate part about it is you only have so many spots.”

Also waived was this year’s sixth-round draft choice, McCants, the tackle from Alabama-Birmingham. The team’s fourth-round selection, offensive lineman Brandon Mosley, was placed on injured reserve earlier this week with an ankle injury.

Stanback was signed on Nov. 30, 2011 to the Giants’ practice squad and spent the rest of the regular season and the postseason there. He caught three passes for 26 yards in the preseason and made the highlight play of the summer when he reached high to make a one-handed catch of a David Carr pass for a five-yard touchdown in Jacksonville.

Marcus Thomas, who played the previous five seasons for the Denver Broncos, was signed on August 16 after the Giants suffered a spate of injuries at defensive tackle. He recovered a fumble by New England’s Brian Hoyer Wednesday night to set up Lawrence Tynes’ game-winning field goal in the Giants’ 6-3 victory.

Hughes is a six-year veteran who was signed on May 24. He previously played for Indianapolis and San Diego.

White was in training camp with the Giants in 2011. He was let go in the final cutdown last year and re-signed on Feb. 13. White has previously played for Green Bay, Houston and Seattle.

Johnson, who hurt his shoulder last week and missed the preseason finale, was waived/injured. He missed the entire 2011 season after tearing his Achilles tendon in training camp. In 2010, Johnson was placed on I.R. after six games when he injured his knee.

Hendricks was on the Giants’ practice squad each of the last three seasons. In 2011, he was signed to the active roster on Oct. 15 and played in one game, at New England on Nov. 6.

Perrilloux was in training camp with the Giants in 2011. He was waived and re-signed to the practice squad 13 times during the regular season and postseason. This preseason, he completed eight of nine passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns.

Marshall was with the Giants in training camp last year and did two short stints on their practice squad in November. He had 2.5 sacks in the just-concluded preseason.

Broha, a rookie free agent from Louisiana Tech, was second on the team with 3.5 sacks in the preseason.

Muasau was a rookie free agent from Georgia State. He was signed after impressing the coaches while attending the rookie minicamp on a tryout basis. Muasau finished the preseason with three tackles after missing the opener with a hamstring injury.

Douglas was a free agent from Arizona who impressed early in training camp. But he was slowed by a quad injury that kept him out of the preseason opener. Douglas finished the preseason with one 23-yard reception and four punt returns for just two yards.

DePalma spent the entire 2011 season on the Giants’ practice squad and was signed to the active roster on Feb. 8. In the preseason, he caught three passes for 46 yards.

Donnell was a free agent from Grambling. He did not have a reception in the preseason.

Capers was signed to the Giants’ practice squad on Sept. 5, 2011 and was waived and re-signed to the squad nine times in the regular season and postseason.

Goodin was a rookie free agent from Nebraska-Kearney.

Scott was signed on Aug 16, soon after his release by the New Orleans Saints

The New York Yankees get manhandled at home by the surging Baltimore Orioles

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 6-1 on Friday night. The game took place in the Bronx, New York. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and was ok, Derek Lowe wasn’t good out of the bullpen and the offense was lifeless. Miguel Gonzalez started for the Orioles and pitched great and the bullpen was ok. The offense was led by Mark Reynolds. 
Kuroda pitched 8 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and four runs. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out four and lost his 10^th game of the season. Clay Rapada pitched 1/3 of an inning retiring the only batter that he faced and Lowe pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up four hits and two runs. Gonzalez won his sixth game of the season pitching seven innings giving up four hits with no runs, a walk and he struck out nine. Darren O’Day pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Brian Matusz pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with two strikeouts.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Curtis Granderson had a hit and an RBI and Eric Chavez had a hit. Russell Martin had a hit, Ichiro Suzuki had a hit and Jayson Nix drew a walk. Granderson hit a homerun and the Yankees were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base.

Nick Markakis had three hits and an RBI, J.J. Hardy had a hit and an RBI and Adam Jones had a hit. Matt Wieters had a hit, Chris Davis had a hit and an RBI and Reynolds had two hits and three RBI. Robert Andino had a hit and Manny Machado had two hits. Reynolds hit two homeruns and Hardy hit a homerun. The Orioles were 2-6 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base.

In the second Davis hit a sacrifice fly and Reynolds hit a two run homerun to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead. Hardy hit a solo homerun in the sixth to make it a 4-0 game. In the ninth Reynolds hit a solo homerun and Markakis hit an RBI single to make it a 6-0 game. Granderson hit a solo homerun in the ninth for the final run of the game as the Orioles won 6-1.

The Yankees have now lost seven of their last ten and the Orioles are streaking. The AL East lead is down to two games for the Yankees over the Orioles. The two teams will play game two of three on Saturday afternoon. The two teams will also face each other next weekend in Baltimore as they will see a lot of each other. The Yankees record fell to 75-56 and the Orioles record improved to 73-58.

The New York Mets shutout the Miami Marlins behind Dickey and his ML leading 17th win

The New York Mets defeated the Miami Marlins by the score of 3-0 on Friday night. The game took place at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida. R.A. Dickey started for the Mets and was brilliant. The Mets didn’t even have to use their bullpen and Ike Davis was their offense. Nathan Eovaldi started for the Marlins and pitched well, their bullpen was good. The Marlins offense was led by Justin Ruggiano. 
Dickey pitched a complete game shutout. He gave up five hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Dickey is now 17-4 on the season. Eovaldi lost his 10^th game of the season pitching seven innings giving up four hits and three runs with a walk and a strikeout. Wade LeBlanc pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Steve Cishek pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Ruben Tejada had a hit, Daniel Murphy had a hit and David Wright had a hit. Davis had a hit and three RBI, Mike Baxter drew a walk and Davis hit a homerun. The Mets were 0-1 with runners in scoring position and they left two men on base. Murphy committed an error and Dickey had a pickoff.

Bryan Peterson drew a walk, Ruggiano had two hits and Jose Reyes drew a walk. Giancarlo Stanton had a hit, Greg Dobbs had a hit and Eovaldi had a hit. Austin Kearns drew a walk and the Marlins were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Reyes was picked off.

In the fourth Davis hit a sacrifice fly to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Davis hit a two run homerun in the seventh inning to make it 3-0 Mets and that would be the final score. Dickey was in complete control all night.

The Mets have now won five out of their last six games. The Mets record improved to 62-70 and the Marlins record fell to 59-73. The two teams will play game two of their three game series on Saturday night.

The Mets fail to sweep the Philadelphia Phillies in a matinee loss

The New York Mets were defeated by the Philadelphia Phillies by the score of 3-2 on Thursday afternoon. The game took place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jon Niese started for the Mets and pitched well, their bullpen was good. David Wright and Scott Hairston led the Mets offense. Kyle Kendrick started for the Phillies and pitched well and their bullpen was good. Kevin Frandsen and John Mayberry led the Phillies offense. 
Niese pitched six innings giving up nine hits and three runs. He walked one and struck out four and lost his eighth game of the season. Ramon Ramirez pitched an inning giving up two hits and he struck out two and Robert Carson pitched an inning giving up a hit and struck out one. Kendrick won his eighth game of the season pitching 7 2/3 innings giving up seven hits and two runs. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six. Raul Valdes pitched to one batter and retired him and Jonathan Papelbon saved his 30^th game of the season pitching a perfect inning striking out one.

Mike Baxter had a hit and an RBI, Daniel Murphy had a hit and Wright had two hits. Hairston had two hits and an RBI, Ronny Cedeno had a hit and Wright hit a double. Baxter and Hairston each hit a homerun. The Mets were 0-2 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

Jimmy Rollins had a hit, Frandsen had four hits and an RBI and Ryan Howard had an RBI. Mayberry had three hits. Ty Wigginton had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk, Lerud had a hit and Kendrick had a hit. Rollins, Wigginton, Frandsen, Mayberry and Kendrick each hit a double. The Phillies were 2-12 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base. Rollins had a stolen base.

Baxter hit a leadoff homerun giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. Hairston hit a solo homerun to give the Mets a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Frandsen hit an RBI single in the third inning to cut the lead to 2-1 Mets. In the fourth Wigginton had an RBI double to tie the game at two. In the fifth Howard hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2 and that would be the final score.

The Mets won two out of three in this series. The Mets four game winning streak came to an end and their record fell to 61-70. The Phillies record improved to 62-69. The Mets will head to Miami to take on the Marlins in a three game weekend series.

Yankees postgame notes following a Wednesday matinee loss

Here are some Yankees notes from Wednesday afternoon/evening after a loss.  The Yankees had their ace on the mound playing a last place team.  They figured that even after the tough loss on Monday they could take the seris with this game.  It didn't work out the way they wanted as Sabathia wasn't great.  The notes are courtesy of the Lohud Yankees blog with my thoughts mixed in.

CC Sabathia tried to take all the blame for today’s debacle. As reporters gathered around his locker, the Yankees ace was blunt.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” he said. “I feel like this game is all my fault, obviously.”  This is why he is an ace.  He should of pitched better but it isn't all of his fault. 

Actually, it wasn’t obvious at all. Sabathia gave up a lead twice, so he deserved some of the blame, but the Yankees were 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position. They made three errors, and that’s not counting the two diving catches that fell out of Andruw Jones’ glove. They lost two out of three against the worst team in the division, and next they have to face the second-place Orioles.

“You show me a manager or player who’s happy to lose a ballgame, and I’ll show you a loser,” Joe Girardi said. “We didn’t play well today. We had plenty of opportunities to win that game and we didn’t get it done. You have to get it done. … We had chances offensively and didn’t get it done. We had chances defensively and didn’t get it done. We didn’t make pitches when we had to. We just didn’t play.”

True, true and true. This was a game the Yankees should have won for all sorts of different reasons, mostly because the Blue Jays are a bad team and the Yankees are supposed to be  a World Series contender. There are plenty of excuses – Sabathia’s defense let him down, the Yankees made some good plays to make up for some of their mistakes, the lineup is missing key pieces – but Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira aren’t coming back any time soon, and the Yankees have to beat teams like the Blue Jays.

Today was a bad game. It was a bad game for Sabathia, it was a bad game for the lineup and it was a bad game for the Yankees.

“Ain’t nobody that likes losing before off days,” Nick Swisher said. “Tough series for us, man. We’ve got to put it behind us. That off day for us couldn’t come at a better time. We’re a little banged up right now. We’ve just got to keep going out there. We’ve got to find a way to win games. That’s it.”

The Yankees actually did have some good luck on their side. They scored two runs when Rajai Davis misplayed Curtis Granderson’s fly ball, and they scored another when Russell Martin’s bouncing ball hit the third-base bag and skipped into the outfield. “There’s a lot of times you say, ‘Hit the bag,’ and it never does,” Girardi said. “Today was one of those days it hit the bag, (but) it seemed like a few times we had runners on second with nobody out and weren’t able to get them home. That’s probably what cost us the game.”  It is true in this game but not for much of the season. 

Andruw Jones nearly made two good catches, but with each diving attempt, the ball rolled out of his glove when he hit the ground. “The first one, I had it,” he said. “I just kind of rolled over my wrist a little bit and wasn’t actually (hurt) that bad. But the second one, I got my fingers caught up into the ground and rolled over a little bit. Those are tough plays, but if you get your glove to them, you’ve got to make them.”

Jones clearly hurt his glove hand on the second diving play, but he said he was fine. “It’s alright,” he said. “It’s just my fingers went back a little bit. But it’s alright I guess.”

Ichiro Suzuki is known for an ability to handle the bat, but he failed to get a bunt down today and it seemed to cost the Yankees. “Obviously in baseball you just have a lot of momentums,” he said. “And I wasn’t able to get that bunt down to create that momentum. Obviously in this important stretch, the run down the stretch, obviously we need to get things done and I need to do better.”  He is such a fundamentally sound ballplayer you are shocked when he doesn't do something like that.  He is a lot like Jeter in that way. 

 The Yankees were held homerless in back-to-back games for the third time this season. It’s the first time they were back-to-back games without a homer at home this season.
  It is a little strange not watching them pound the baseball over the fence.  It is a little harder without Rodriguez and Teixeira though. 

The Yankees reached base in six of nine innings and matched their season-high for at-bats with runners in scoring position in a nine-inning game. Of their eight hits, six were doubles, their most doubles in a game since July 30, 2011.

 Derek Jeter’s first-inning error was his first since July 8, snapping a 38-game errorless streak. According to Elias, it’s his longest error-free streak since a career-high 52 games in 2010.

Sabathia’s day started to go bad when he gave up three runs with two outs in the third. Jayson Nix made a nice play to turn two and put Sabathia on the verge of ending the inning, but things started to unravel with a hit by Edwin Encarnacion. “I just think obviously it was 3-0 just trying to make a pitch,” Sabathia said. “He put a good swing on the pitch. I just think the two-strike pitches killed me today.”

Sabathia on the homer to Escobar, which came on a hanging slider: “I was just trying to make a pitch and not walk him. I should probably be smarter than that.”

 Some of the Blue Jays damage came on broken bat hits, but Sabathia couldn’t care less. “It really doesn’t matter,” he said. “They’re line drives to score runs. It’s up to me to make pitches and get out of the inning, and I didn’t do that tonight.”

 Make no mistake, Sabathia said he was fully healthy and had good stuff. “Just frustrated at actually having my stuff and not making the pitches,” he said. “Obviously you have to give them credit for putting together good at-bats, but I need to make better pitches and I didn’t do that today.”

 Final word goes to Girardi: “At times we haven’t hit during this little streak. We haven’t scored as many runs as we have in the past. Up until today our pitching wasn’t too bad. Today it was a combination of a lot of different things. You have to put it behind you. That’s all you can do. This day is over with, so put it behind you and move on.”  There is no choice, they are in front so the other teams have to catch them.  The Yankees have to start winning some games though and getting some distance between them.  The next three series are against the teams competing against them for the playoffs. 

The Mets win their fourth straight as Harvey continues to impress

The New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies by the score of 3-2 on Wednesday night. The game took place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Matt Harvey started for the Mets and pitched well and the Mets bullpen was very good. Lucas Duda led the Mets offense. Tyler Cloyd pitched pretty well in his major league debut and the bullpen did a great job. Juan Pierre led the Phillies offense. 
Cloyd pitched six innings giving up seven hits and three runs. He walked two and struck out five and lost his first game of the season. Jeremy Horst pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout, Antonio Bastardo gave up a hit without recording an out and Philippe Aumont pitched an inning giving up a walk and he struck out two. Josh Lindblom pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Harvey won his third game of the season pitching 6 1/3 innings giving up six hits and two runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Josh Edgin pitched 2/3 of an inning, Robert Carson pitched 2/3 of an inning and Jon Rauch retired the only batter that he faced. Frank Francisco earned his 22^nd save of the season pitching a perfect inning with two strikeouts.

Jimmy Rollins had a hit and an RBI, Pierre had two hits and Chase Utley had a hit. Ryan Howard had an RBI, Laynce Nix had a hit and Frandsen had a hit. Cloyd drew two walks, Rollins and Nix each hit a double. The Phillies were 1-6 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

Daniel Murphy had a hit, Ike Davis had two hits and Duda had two hits and two RBI. Scott Hairston had a hit and drew a walk, Mike Baxter drew a walk and Kelly Shoppach had a hit and drew a walk. Harvey had a hit and an RBI, Hairston hit a double and Duda hit a homerun. The Mets were 1-10 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. Duda had a stolen base and Shoppach committed an error.

In the first inning Howard hit a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 Phillies. Harvey hit an RBI single in the second to tie the game at one. Rollins hit an RBI double in the second and Duda hit a two run homerun in the third to make it 3-2 and that would be the final score.

The Mets record improved to 61-69 and the Phillies improved to 61-69. These are two teams at the opposite end of the spectrum. The Phillies were one of the favorites and everyone picked the Mets to finish in last place. The two teams will play the final game of the series on Thursday afternoon. The Mets have won four straight games.

The Yankees play sloppy, lose game and series to the Toronto Blue Jays

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 8-5 on Wednesday afternoon. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,New York. CC Sabathia started for the Yankees and wasn’t great although he didn’t get much help from his defense. Curtis Granderson led the Yankees offense. J.A. Happ started for the Blue Jays and didn’t pitch that well, the Jays bullpen was pretty good. Yunel Escobar led the Jays offense. 
Sabathia pitched seven innings giving up nine hits and five runs with only two of them being earned. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out eight and suffered his fourth loss, the first since June. Derek Lowe didn’t record an out and gave up two hits and a run, Boone Logan struck out the only batter that he faced and Cody Eppley pitched an inning giving up two runs, one of them was earned. Eppley walked a batter, Clay Rapada walked the only batter that he faced and Joba Chamberlain pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one. Happ pitched five innings giving up four runs and five walks with six strikeouts. Happ won his 10^th game of the season, Delabar pitched 12/3 innings giving up two hits and striking out three, Loup pitched 1/3 of an inning retiring the only batter that he faced and Lyon pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with a strikeout. Casey Janssen pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Janssen picked up his 17^th save of the season.

Derek Jeter had a hit and drew a walk, Nick Swisher drew two walks and Robinson Cano had a hit. Andruw Jones had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Curtis Granderson had a hit and three RBI and Raul Ibanez had a hit. Jayson Nix had a hit and drew a walk, Russell Martin had a hit and an RBI and Ichiro Suzuki had a hit. Granderson, Suzuki, Nix, Cano, Ibanez and Martin each hit a double. The Yankees were 3-17 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base. Jeter committed an error, Nix and Chavez also.

Rajai Davis had a hit, Edwin Encarnacion had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Adam Lind had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk. Escobar had four hits and five RBI, Kelly Johnson had two hits and Jeff Mathis had a hit and an RBI. Hechavarria had a hit. Escobar hit three doubles and hit a homerun. The Jays were 6-14 with runners in scoring position and they left nine men on base.

In the first Jones hit an RBI single and Granderson grounded out scoring a run. It was 2-0 Yankees, the Blue Jays got on the board in the third on a Encarnacion RBI single and Lind RBI single. The Jays took a 3-2 lead on a Escobar RBI double. In the third Granderson hit a two run double giving the Yankees a 4-3 lead. Escobar hit a two run homerun in the sixth to give the Jays a 5-4 lead. The Jays would expand their lead to 6-4 on a sacrifice bunt by Mathis in the eighth inning. Martin hit an RBI double in the eighth to make it a 6-5 game. Escobar hit a two run double in the ninth to make it 8-5 and that would be the final score.

The Yankees lost two out of three in the series. The Yankees record fell to 75-55 and the Jays record improved to 58-71. The Yankees will have an off day on Thursday and then start a three game weekend home series with the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees continue to hold a 3 ½ game lead on them for first place in the AL East.

The Mets rally to defeat the Phillies in extra innings over the PHillies

The New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies by the score of 9-5 on Tuesday night. The game took place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Chris Young started for the Mets and didn’t pitch well, the bullpen did pitch well. Kelly Shoppach and Daniel Murphy led the Mets offense. Vance Worley started for the Phillies and didn’t pitch too well and the bullpen had mixed results. The Phillies offense was led by Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. 
Young pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up four hits and five runs with three walks and two strikeouts. Robert Carson pitched an inning striking out one, Ramon Ramirez pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out one and Josh Edgin pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout. Jon Rauch retired the only batter that he faced and Bobby Parnell won his fourth game of the season. Parnell pitched two innings giving up a hit and struck out two. Worley pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up nine hits and four runs with four strikeouts. Raul Valdes pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings with two strikeouts, Josh Lindblom pitched an inning giving up a run and two walks with a strikeout and Antonio Bastardo pitched an inning giving up a hit and struck out one. Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect inning andB.J. Rosenberg lost his second game of the season pitching an inning giving up four hits and four runs.

Ruben Tejada had two hits, Murphy had three hits and David Wright had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk. Ike Davis had a hit and an RBI, Lucas Duda had two hits and an RBI and Shoppach had three hits and three RBI. Mike Baxter had a hit and two RBI and Scott Hairston drew a walk. Tejada, Shoppach and Davis each hit a double. Baxter and Shoppach each hit a homerun. The Mets were 4-13 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Hairston was caught stealing and Murphy committed an error.

Jimmy Rollins drew two walks, Utley had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk and Howard had a hit and four RBI. John Mayberry had a hit and drew a walk, Laynce Nix had a hit and drew a walk and Erik Kratz had a hit. Howard and Utley each hit a homerun. The Phillies were 1-3 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Kratz had two passed balls.

In the first inning Wright hit an RBI single to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the first Howard hit a grand slam giving the Phillies a 4-1 lead. Baxter hit a two run homerun in the fourth to make it 4-3 Phillies.  In the fifth the Mets tied the game on a Wright RBI single, Utley hit a solo homerun in the fifth to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead.  The Mets tied the game in the eighth on a Shoppach RBI double.  The Mets in the tenth scored four runs to win the game 9-5.  Davis hit an RBI double, Duda hit an RBI single and Shoppach hit a two run homerun. 

The Mets record improved to 60-69 and the Phillies record dropped to 61-68.  The two teams will play game two of three on Wednesday night. 

　

The Yankees ride stellar pitching to a victory over the Toronto Blue Jays

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 2-1 on Tuesday night. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,New York. Phil Hughes started for the Yankees and pitched seven strong innings. The Yankees bullpen was perfect and the offense didn’t do much but they had a couple of clutch RBI. Ricky Romero pitched well for the Blue Jays and they got their run on a homerun by Adeiny Hechavarria. 
Hughes pitched seven innings giving up one run on four hits. He walked three and struck out five and won his 13^th game of the season. David Robertson and Rafael Soriano both pitched 1-2-3 innings. Soriano picked up his 34^th save of the season. Romero pitched seven innings giving up five hits and two runs with two walks and six strikeouts. He lost his 12^th game of the season, Lyon pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Nick Swisher had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Steve Pearce drew a walk. Curtis Granderson had an RBI, Jayson Nix had two hits and Ichiro Suzuki had a hit. The Yankees were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base. Nix had a stolen base and Jeter was caught stealing.

Rajai Davis drew a walk, Colby Rasmus drew a walk and Edwin Encarnacion drew a walk. Yunel Escobar had a hit, Moises Sierra had two hits and Hechavarria had a hit and an RBI. Escobar hit a double and Hechavarria hit a homerun. The Blue Jays were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Davis was caught stealing.

In the third Swisher hit an RBI single to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. In the fourth Granderson hit a sacrifice fly giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead. The Blue Jays scored their only run and the last run of the game in the fifth. Hechavarria hit his first major league homerun to make it a 2-1 game and that was the final score.

The three game series is now even at one game a piece. The rubber game will be played on Wednesday afternoon. The Yankees record improved to 75-54 and the Blue Jays record fell to 57-71. The Yankees remain 3 ½ games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East.

The Yankees lose a tough one as Soriano blows a save

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 8-7 in 11 innings on Monday night. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,New York. The Yankees were one strike away from winning the game and Soriano couldn’t get that last strike to win it. David Phelps started and pitched pretty well, Soriano blew the save and Derek Lowe gave up the winning run in extras. Robinson Cano led the offense. Henderson Alvarez pitched ok and their bullpen wasn’t great. The Jays offense was led by Yorvit Torrealba. 
Phelps pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up five hits and four runs with a walk and seven strikeouts. Cody Eppley pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and struck out one, David Robertson pitched an inning giving up two hits and struck out one and Soriano blew his third save of the season pitching an inning giving up three hits and three runs with a couple of strikeouts. Clay Rapada struck out the only batter that he faced and Derek Lowe suffered his 11^th loss of the season pitching 1 2/3 innings giving up a hit and an unearned run and struck out one. Alvarez pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up five hits and four runs with a walk and a strikeout. Aaron Laffey pitched 2 2/3 innings giving up a hit and two runs with three walks, Steve Delabar pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk and striking out one and Aaron Loup pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit.. Brad Lincoln pitched a perfect inning,Casey Jannssen blew his third save of the season pitching an inning and giving up a a hit and a run with a couple of strikeouts and Darren Oliver picked up his third win of the season. He pitched two innings walking one and striking out three.

Derek Jeter had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Nick Swisher had a hit and two RBI and Cano had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk. Mark Teixeira drew a walk and left with a left leg contusion, Jayson Nix drew a walk and Eric Chavez had three hits and drew a walk. Russell Martin had a hit and an RBI, Raul Ibanez had an RBI and Ichiro Suzuki drew a walk. Cano hit two homeruns, Swisher and Jeter each hit one. The Yankees were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Lowe committed an error.

Rajai Davis had a hit, Colby Rasmus had two hits and three RBI and Adam Lind had two hits and an RBI. Yunel Escobar had a hit, Kelly Johnson drew a walk and Torrealba had three hits and two RBI. Sierra had a hit and Hechavarria had two hits and two RBI. Lind, Torrealba and Rasmus hit a homerun and the Blue Jays were 2-5 with runners in scoring position and five men left on base.

In the first Cano hit a solo homerun to make it a 1-0 game. In the second Lind hit a solo homerun to tie the game at one. In the fourth Cano hit a solo homerun to make it a 2-1 Yankees lead, Martin hit an RBI single and Ibanez hit a ground out to score a run making it 4-1. In the fifth Torrealba hit a two run homerun to make it 4-3 Yankees. Swisher hit a two run homerun in the fifth to make it 6-3. Hechavarria hit an RBI single to make it 6-4 in the seventh. In the ninth Rasmus hit a three run homerun to give the Jays a 7-6 lead. In the bottom of the ninth Jeter hit a solo homerun to tie the game at seven. In the 11^th Hechavarria grounded out and a run scored giving the Jays an 8-7 lead and that was the final.

The two teams will play game two of three on Tuesday night. The Yankees record fell to 74-54 and the Blue Jays record improved to 57-70. The Yankees lead in the AL East fell to 3 ½ games over the Baltimore Orioles who moved ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for second place, the Rays remain four games behind the Yankees.

The New York Yankees take a series in Cleveland behind a strong bullpen

The New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Indians by the score of 4-2 on Sunday afternoon. The game was played at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. Freddy Garcia started for the Yankees and pitched ok just not that deep into the game. The Yankees bullpen was great and Ichiro Suzuki and Nick Swisher led the offense. Ubaldo Jiminez started for the Indians and pitched ok and their bullpen pitched pretty well. The Indians offense was led by Jeff Kipnis. 
Garcia pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up four hits and two runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Boone Logan won his fifth game of the season pitching 1 2/3 innings giving up a hit and two strikeouts, Dave Robertson pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and striking out two and Rafael Soriano saved his 33^rd game of the season pitching 1 1/3 innings and giving up a hit. Jiminez lost his 13^th game of the season pitching five innings giving up eight hits and three runs with a walk and four strikeouts. Tony Sipp pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout, Joe Smith pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk and struck out one and Esmil Rogers pitched two innings giving up a hit.

Derek Jeter hit an RBI, Swisher had three hits and an RBI and Robinson Cano had two hits and drew a walk. Mark Teixiera had a hit, Curtis Granderson had a hit and an RBI including his 200^th career homerun. Eric Chavez had a hit, Raul Ibanez drew a walk and Suzuki had two hits and an RBI. Chris Stewart had a hit, Cano and Swisher each hit a double. Granderson hit a homerun, the Yankees were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Suzuki was caught stealing, Cano had an error and Stewart had a passed ball.

Kipnis had three hits, Shin-Soo Choo drew two walks and Carlos Santana had a hit and two RBI. Michael Brantley had a hit, Jack Hannahan had two hits and Hannahan and Kipnis each hit a double. The Indians were 1-11 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. Kipnis had three stolen bases and Brantley was caught stealing.

In the second inning the Yankees took the lead. Suzuki hit an RBI single, Jeter grounded out scoring a run and Swisher had an RBI single making it 3-0 Yankees. In the fifth Santana had a two run single to make it 3-2 and the Yankees scored the final run of the game making it 4-2 in the sixth. Granderson hit a solo homerun and the Yankees bullpen held the two run lead to take the game and the series.

The Yankees won two out of three in this series and ended up 2-4 on the road trip. The Yankees record improved to 74-53 and they remain four games up in the AL East. The Indians record dropped to 55-72. The Yankees will begin a three game series with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night. They will have off on Thursday and then begin a three game series with the Baltimore Orioles. They have 35 games remaining and 29 of them are against their own division.

The Mets defeat the Houston Astros to take the series and win their second in a row

The New York Mets defeated the Houston Astros by the score of 2-1 on Sunday afternoon. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. Jeremy Hefner started for the Mets and pitched very well. Ike Davis led the Mets offense. Harrell started for the Astros and pitched well and Gonzalez led their offense. 
Hefner pitched eight innings giving up five hits and a run with a walk and seven strikeouts. Carson faced one batter and retired him and Bobby Parnell won his third game of the season. Parnell pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a walk. Harrell pitched seven innings giving up two hits and a run with two walks and seven strikeouts and Lopez lost his second game of the season pitching 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and a run. He struck out one batter.

David Wright had a hit, Davis had two hits and two RBI and Lucas Duda drew a walk. Kelly Shoppach had a hit and drew a walk, Davis hit two homeruns. The Mets were 0-3 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Baxter had a stolen base and Duda had an outfield assist.

Jose Altuve had a hit, Mike Gonzalez had two hits and an RBI and Brett Wallace had a hit. Ben Francisco had a hit, Moore drew a walk and Chris Snyder drew a walk. Fernando Martinez had a hit, Gonzalez hit a double and the Astros were 2-5 with runners in scoring position. The Astros left five men on base and Altuve had a stolen base.

In the fourth inning Davis hit a solo homerun to make it 1-0 Mets. Gonzalez hit an RBI double in the ninth to tie the game at one and Davis hit a walk-off homerun in the ninth to win the game for the Mets. The Mets won the game 2-1.

The Mets won two out of three in this series and now have won two games in a row. The Mets record improved to 59-69. The Astros record dropped to 40-88. The Mets will have Monday off and then play at the Phillies for a three game series followed by a series in Miami against the Marlins.