The New York Mets are shutout by the Atlanta Braves

The New York Mets were defeated by the Atlanta Braves by the score of 2-0 on Saturday night. The game took place at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia. Chris Young started for the Mets and pitched well and the bullpen was good. The Mets offense only managed five hits and not one player had more then a hit. Mike Minor started for the Braves and pitched well and their bullpen pitched very well also. Martin Prado, Dan Uggla and Andrelton Simmons led the Braves offense. 
Young pitched six innings giving up seven hits and two runs. He walked one and struck out six and lost his ninth game of the season. Elvin Ramirez pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Ramon Ramirez pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Minor won his 11^th game of the season pitching 6 1/3 innings giving up three hits and no runs with four strikeouts. Chad Durbin faced one batter and retired him, Luis Avilan pitched to one batter and struck him out and Jonny Venters pitched one inning giving up two hits. Craig Kimbrel saved his 41^st game of the season pitching an inning. He threw a perfect inning and struck out two batters.

Andres Torres had a hit, David Wright had a hit and Scott Hairston had a hit. Jason Bay had a hit, Kelly Shoppach had a hit and Wright hit a double. The Mets were 0-5 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

Constanza had a hit, Prado had two hits and an RBI and Jason Heyward had an RBI. Uggla had two hits, Brian McCann had a hit and drew a walk and Simmons had two hits. Prado hit two doubles and the Braves were 1-6 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Constanza was caught stealing and Uggla committed an error.

In the first Heyward had an RBI groundout to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. In the fifth they extended their lead to 2-0 and that is how it would end. Prado hit an RBI double.

The Mets record fell to 73-85 and the Braves record improved to 92-66. The Braves have clinched a wild card spot and the Mets are just playing out the string. The teams will play the rubber game of a three game series on Sunday afternoon.

The Yankees can't put the game away and lose to the Toronto Blue Jays

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon by the score of 3-2. The game took place at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. Andy Pettitte started for the Yankees and although this was his worst start since returning from the DL he wasn’t too bad. The bullpen was ok and the offense couldn’t get it done with runners in scoring position. The Yankees scored two early runs and then were shut down and they had plenty of chances. Ricky Romero started for the Blue Jays but left the game early due to injury. The Blue Jays bullpen was very good and their offense was led by Rajai Davis. 
Pettitte pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up five hits and three runs with three walks and four strikeouts. Pettitte took the loss, his fourth of the season. Joba Chamberlain pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and striking out three, Cody Eppley pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and Boone Logan walked the only batter that he faced. Dave Robertson pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up nothing. Romero pitched three innings giving up six hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Shawn Hill won his first game and pitched for the first time in a couple of years. He pitched three scoreless innings giving up two walks, Brad Lincoln pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Aaron Loup pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit. Steve Delabar pitched one perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts and Casey Janssen pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Ichiro Suzuki had three hits and Alex Rodriguez drew two walks. Robinson Cano had two hits and an RBI, Nick Swisher had two hits and drew a walk and Curtis Granderson had an RBI. Eduardo Nunez had a hit and Chris Stewart drew a walk. The Yankees were 2-11 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Suzuki and Gardner were each caught stealing. Suzuki had an outfield assist.

Brett Lawrie drew a walk, Davis had three hits and two RBI and Yunel Escobar had a hit and drew a walk. Yan Gomes had a hit and drew a walk, Adam Lind drew a walk and Jeff Mathis had a hit. Luke Hechavarria had a hit and an RBI. Mathis and Adeiny Hechavarria each hit a double and Davis hit a homerun. The Jays were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Hill and Gomes each committed an error. Loup had a pickoff.

In the first inning the Yankees took a 2-0 lead. Cano and Granderson each hit a sacrifice fly. Davis hit a solo homerun in the first to make it 2-1. In the fifth Davis hit an RBI single to tie the game at two. Hechavarria hit an RBI double to give the Jays a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning and that was the final run of the game. The final score was 3-2 Blue Jays.

The Yankees have lost two of the first three games in this four game series. The two teams will play the final game of the series on Sunday afternoon. The Yankees are now in a first place tie with the Baltimore Orioles for the AL East lead. The Yankees record fell to 91-67 and the Blue Jays record improved to 70-88.

The Mets spoil Chipper Jones night with a Niese gem

The New York Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves by the score of 3-1 on Friday night. The game took place at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia. Jon Niese started for the Mets and pitched great and the bullpen closed it out. The Mets offense was led by Lucas Duda. Tim Hudson started for the Braves and pitched pretty well and their bullpen was good. The Braves offense only managed four hits. 
Niese pitched seven innings giving up four hits and a run with three walks and three strikeouts. Niese won his 13^th game of the season which is a career high for him. Manny Acosta struck out the only batter that he faced, Justin Hampson pitched 2/3 of an inning striking out one and Bobby Parnell pitched an inning picking up his sixth save of the season. Parnell struck out one, Hudson lost his seventh game of the season pitching seven innings giving up five hits and three runs with a walk and four strikeouts. Cristhian Martinez pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and two walks and Cory Gearrin pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up a strikeout.

Ruben Tejada had a hit, Daniel Murphy had a hit and drew a walk and Ike Davis had a hit and drew a walk. Duda had two hits and three RBI, Mike Baxter had a hit and Murphy and Tejada each hit a double. Duda hit a homerun and the Mets were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and left three men on base. Baxter was caught stealing.

Martin Prado drew a walk, Jason Heyward had a hit and Freddie Freeman had a hit and an RBI. Dan Uggla had a hit and drew two walks, Andrelton Simmons had a hit. Freeman hit a homerun and the Braves were 0-1 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

In the fourth Freeman hit a solo homerun giving the Braves a 1-0 lead. In the seventh Duda connected and hit a three run homerun to give the Mets the lead. The Mets lead was 3-1 and that would be the final score.

The Yankees offense beats up on Toronto as they maintain their one game lead

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 11-4 on Friday night. The game took place at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and he did a good job of battling. He didn’t have his best stuff but got the job done. The Yankees bullpen did ok and the offense was led by Russell Martin who had two hits and three RBI. Chad Jenkins started for the Jays and wasn’t very good, their bullpen wasn’t so good either. The Jays offense was led by Rajai Davis. 
Kuroda pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up ten hits and two runs with two walks and four strikeouts. He earned his 15^th win of the season, David Phelps pitched 1 2/3 innings with a hit and two runs with a walk and a strikeout and Dave Robertson pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout. Cody Eppley pitched 2/3 of an inning striking out one and Rafael Soriano pitched an inning walking one. Jenkins lost his third game of the season pitching 3 2/3 innings giving up four hits and three runs with three walks and two strikeouts, Brett Cecil pitched two innings giving up a hit and two runs with a couple of strikeouts and Jason Frasor didn’t record an out giving up three hits and two runs with a walk. Joel Carreno pitched one inning giving up two hits and and a run with a walk, Chad Beck pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run and Aaron Loup pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit. Bobby Korecky pitched one inning giving up a hit and two runs with a walk.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Ichiro Suzuki had two hits and an RBI and Alex Rodriguez had a hit. Robinson Cano had two hits and an RBI, Swisher had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk and Curtis Granderson had a hit and drew a walk. Raul Ibanez had a hit and an RBI, Chris Dickerson drew a walk and Martin had two hits, three RBI and drew a walk. Eric Chavez had a hit, two RBI and drew two walks. Swisher, Granderson and Suzuki each hit a double. Martin and Chavez each hit a homerun and the Yankees were 5-15 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Suzuki had a stolen base, Martin was picked off.

Brett Lawrie had a hit and drew two walks, Colby Rasmus had a hit and an RBI and Edwin Encarnacion drew two walks. J.P. Arencebia had a hit, Adam Lind had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk and Yunel Escobar had a hit. Kelly Johnson had a hit, Davis had four hits and Anthony Gose had a hit and an RBI. Lawrie, Escobar, Gose, Davis and Johnson each hit a double, Rasmus and Lind each hit a homerun. The Blue Jays were 1-9 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base. Escobar was picked off and Carreno committed an error.

The Yankees remain one game up on the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. There are five games left to play and this was the second game of four in this series. The teams have split the first two games and will play the third one on Saturday afternoon. The Yankees record is now 91-66 and the Jays record fell to 69-88. The Yankees magic number for a playoff spot is two and five for the division. The magic number is any combination of their wins and the other teams losses.

The New York Yankees are blanked in Toronto as their lead is down to one game

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 6-0 on Thursday night. The game took place at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. Ivan Nova started for the Yankees and didn’t pitch well. The Yankees offense didn’t do anything and when they had a couple of chances late they couldn’t capitalize. Brandon Morrow pitched great for the Blue Jays and their offense was led by Edwin Encarnacion. 
Nova pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up six hits and four runs with two walks and four strikeouts. Nova lost his eighth game of the season, Clay Rapada pitched to one batter and retired him, Derek Lowe pitched two innings giving up three hits and a run and David Aardsma pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with a walk and a strikeout. Morrow improved to 9-7 and pitched seven innings giving up four hits and no runs. He walked three and struck out three. Brad Lincoln pitched an inning striking out one and Darren Oliver pitched an inning giving up a hit.

Derek Jeter drew a walk, Alex Rodriguez drew a walk and Robinson Cano had three hits. Nick Swisher drew a walk, Russell Martin had two hits including a double and Cano hit a double. The Yankees were 0-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.

Brett Lawrie had two hits and two RBI, Colby Rasmus had two hits and Encarnacion had three hits and three RBI. J.P. Arencebia had two hits and an RBI. Kelly Johnson drew a walk, Moises Sierra drew a walk and Anthony Gose had a hit and drew a walk. Encarnacion hit a double, Lawrie and Arencibia hit a homerun. The Blue Jays were 2-6 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Gose had an outfield assist.

Lawrie hit a two run homerun in the third to give the Jays a 2-0 lead. In the fifth Encarnacion hit a two run double to make it 4-0 Jays. In the seventh Encarnacion grounded out to score a run and make it 5-0. The Jays scored the last run of the game in the ninth on an Arencibia hit a solo homerun.

The Yankees lost the first of four to the Jays and now have a one game lead in the AL East. The two teams will play game two on Friday night. The Yankees record fell to 90-66 and the Blue Jays record improved to 69-87.

The Mets win to take series and get R.A. Dickey his 20th victory

The New York Mets defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates by the score of 6-5 on Thursday afternoon. The game was played at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. It was the last home game of the season for the Mets. R.A. Dickey started and he started off shaky but then he was good. David Wright led the Mets offense. Kevin Correia started for the Pirates and he wasn’t very good, their bullpen was good and Rod Barajas led the Pirates offense. 
Dickey pitched 7 2/3 innings giving up eight hits and three runs with two walks and 13 strikeouts. Dickey is now 20-6 on the season and has one more start to state his case for Cy Young. Jon Rauch pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and two runs with a walk and a strikeout and Bobby Parnell saved his fifth game of the season pitching 2/3 of an inning. Correia pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up seven hits and six runs with a walk and two strikeouts. Correia lost his 11^th game of the season, Hisanori Takahashi pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings striking out two and Chris Resop pitched an inning giving up a hit. Tony Watson pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Ruben Tejada had a hit, Daniel Murphy had two hits and an RBI and Wright had two hits and three RBI. Ike Davis had a hit and an RBI, Scott Hairston had a hit and an RBI and Andres Torres drew a walk. Dickey had a hit, Davis and Wright each hit a homerun. The Mets were 3-7 with runners in scoring position and left three men on base. Murphy had a stolen base.

Alex Presley had a hit and two RBI, Garrett Jones had two hits and drew a walk and Travis Snider had a hit and drew a walk. Barajas had two hits and two RBI, Jody Mercer had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk and Brock Holt had a hit. Jones and Barajas each hit a double and Barajas and Presley each hit a homerun. The Pirates were 3-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Andruw McCutchen had an outfield assist.

In the second Barajas hit an RBI double and Mercer hit an RBI single to make it 2-0 Pirates. Davis hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the second to make it 2-1. Barajas hit a solo homerun in the fourth to make it a 3-1 game. Hairston hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth making it 3-2. In the fifth Murphy hit an RBI single and Wright hit a three run homerun to make it 6-3 Mets. Presley hit a two run homerun in the ninth to make it 6-5 and that was the final score.

The Mets won three out of the four games in this series. The Mets record improved to 72-84 and the Pirates record dropped to 76-80. This was the Mets last home game of the season. They at least finished on a strong note winning seven of their last eight at home. The Mets will now head to Atlanta and Miami to close out the season with six more games. This was an exciting game for them as they got Dickey his 20^th win and he is the first knuckleball pitcher since Phil Niekro who did it more then 20 years ago.

The Mets shutout the Pittsburgh Pirates at home 6-0

The New York Mets defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates by the score of 6-0 on Wednesday night. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. Jeremy Hefner started for the Mets and pitched very well and Jeurys Familia closed out the game. Ruben Tejada and Andres Torres led the Mets offense but David Wright became the all-time Mets hits leader. Pedro Alvarez led a very weak Pittsburgh offense and Locke didn’t pitch well for the Pirates. 
Hefner pitched seven innings giving up three hits and no runs with a walk and seven strikeouts. Hefner won his third game of the season and Familia pitched two innings giving up a walk and striking out one. Locke lost his third game of the season pitching 3 2/3 innings giving up nine hits and five runs with a walk and five strikeouts. Chris Leroux pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits, Jeff Karstens pitched two innings giving up two hits and a run with two strikeouts and Bryan Morris pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts. Chad Qualls pitched an inning giving up a hit.

Tejada had four hits and two RBI, Daniel Murphy had two hits and an RBI and Wright had two hits. Scott Hairston had two hits and an RBI, Ike Davis drew a walk and Kelly Shoppach had a hit and an RBI. Torres had three hits, Hairston and Torres each hit a double and the Mets were 6-9 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Tejada and Torres each had a stolen base, Tejada was caught stealing.

Starling Marte had a hit and drew a walk, Pedro Alvarez had two hits and Clint Barmes drew a walk. The Pirates were 0-1 with runners in scoring position and left three men on base. Marte was caught stealing and Alvarez committed an error. Marte had an outfield assist and Locke had a pickoff.

In the third the Mets scored four runs to take a 4-0 lead. Murphy hit an RBI single, Wright hit an RBI single, Hairston hit an RBI double and Shoppach had an RBI single. In the fourth Tejada hit an RBI single to extend the Mets lead to 5-0. The final run of the game came in the sixth as Tejada hit an RBI single to make it 6-0.

The Mets record improved to 71-84 and the Pirates record fell to 76-79. The Mets have taken two out of the first three games and will finish the series on Thursday afternoon.

The New York Yankees take the series from the Minnesota Twins

The New York Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins by the score of 8-2 on Wednesday night. The game took place at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. CC Sabathia started for the Yankees and pitched really well. The Yankees offense did a good job especially in their big third inning. Samuel Deduno started for the Twins but left with eye irratation and was replaced by Brian Duensing who struggled. The Twins offense was led by Alexi Casilla. 
Sabathia pitched eight innings giving up two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out ten and picked up his 14^th victory of the season. Cody Eppley pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one. Deduno pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two walks and striking out two, Duensing lost his 11^th game of the season and pitched an inning giving up five hits and six runs with two walks and a strikeout and Anthony Swarzak pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up three hits and two runs with a walk and three strikeouts. Kyle Waldrop pitched two innings giving up two hits and striking out two and Luis Perdomo pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one.

Ichiro Suzuki had two hits, Derek Jeter drew a walk and Robinson Cano had two hits and two RBI. Nick Swisher had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Curtis Granderson had a hit and two RBI and Eric Chavez drew two walks. Raul Ibanez had two hits, Chris Stewart had a hit and drew a walk and Chris Dickerson had two hits and two RBI. Cano hit two doubles and Ibanez hit a double, Granderson hit a triple and Dickerson hit a homerun. The Yankees were 4-10 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Granderson was picked off and Stewart had a passed ball.

Ryan Doumit had a hit, Matt Carson had a hit and an RBI and Jamey Carroll had a hit and drew a walk. Chris Hermann had a hit, Casilla had two hits and Pedro Florimon had a hit and an RBI. The Twins were 2-5 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base.

Carson hit an RBI single in the second to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. In the third the Yankees scored six runs to take a 6-1 lead. Cano hit a two run double, Swisher hit an RBI single and Granderson hit a two run triple. A wild pitch scored the final run of the inning. Dickerson hit a two run homerun in the sixth to make it a 8-1 game. The Twins scored the final run of the game in the seventh on a Florimon RBI single.

The Yankees won two out of three in this series. The Yankees record improved to 90-65 and the Twins record fell to 65-91. The Yankees will begin their final road series of the regular season on Thursday night in Toronto. They will play four games there before returning home to play the final three games of the season against Boston. The Yankees have a 1 ½ game lead over Baltimore and two in the loss column as they battle for first in the AL East.

The New York Yankees lose a tough one in Minnesota

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Minnesota Twins by the score of 5-4 on Tuesday night. The game took place at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Phil Hughes started for the Yankees and pitched well, Boone Logan did not and blew the game. The Yankees offense wasn’t great but Martin and Swisher each hit a homerun. Esmerling Vasquez started for the Twins and pitched well and their bullpen did pretty well. The Twins offense was led by Ryan Doumit. 
Hughes pitched 6 2/3 innings losing his 13^th game of the season but he deserved better. He gave up six hits and four runs with a walk and four strikeouts. He left with a 3-1 lead though and Boone Logan pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and a run with a walk. He was at 99 pitches when he left and a lot of people second guessed manager Joe Girardi on this one. Derek Lowe pitched a perfect inning. Vasquez pitched six innings giving up seven hits and two runs with a walk and five strikeouts. Casey Fien won his second game of the season pitching an inning giving up a hit and a run, Jared Burton pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out one and Glen Perkins pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with two strikeouts.

Derek Jeter had a hit to extend his hitting streak to 19 games. Ichiro Suzuki had a hit, Robinson Cano had three hits and drew a walk and Swisher had a hit and two RBI. Russell Martin had two hits and an RBI, Raul Ibanez drew a walk and Andruw Jones had a hit and an RBI. Swisher, Martin and Jones each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 0-1 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Suzuki and Martin were caught stealing.

Denard Span had a hit and two RBI, Ben Revere drew a walk and Mauer had three hits and an RBI. Doumit had two hits, Parmalee had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Jamey Carroll had a hit. Parmalee and Span each hit a double. The Twins were 3-9 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

Swisher hit a two run homerun in the fourth to make it 2-0 Yankees. The Twins made it 2-1 in the fourth on a Parmalee RBI double. Martin hit a solo homerun in the seventh to extend the lead to 3-1. In the bottom of the seventh Logan threw a wild pitch to score a run and make it 3-2 and Span hit a two run double making it 4-3 Twins. Mauer hit an RBI single to extend the lead to 5-3 and Jones hit a solo homerun in the ninth to make it 5-4 and that was the final score.

The two teams have split the first two games of this three game series. They will play the rubber game on Wednesday afternoon. The Yankees record fell to 89-65 and the Twins record improved to 65-90. The Yankees remain 1 ½ games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East and two games in the loss column.

The New York Mets lose their second in a row to the Pittsburgh Pirates

The New York Mets were defeated by the Pittsburgh Pirates by the score of 10-6 on Tuesday night. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. Collin McHugh started for the Mets and didn’t pitch well, their bullpen did pitch well. The Mets offense was led by David Wright. Wandy Rodriguez started for the Pirates and pitched pretty well, their bullpen was ok except for Resop and Garrett Jones led the Pirates offense. 
McHugh pitched 1 1/3 innings in losing his third game of the season. He gave up five hits and seven runs with three walks. Hampson pitched 2 2/3 innings giving up a hit and a walk, Elvin Ramirez pitched two innings giving up a hit and a run with three walks and two strikeouts and Robert Carson retired the only batter that he faced. Ramon Ramirez faced two batters and retired them both, Bobby Parnell pitched an inning striking out one and Jon Rauch pitched an inning giving up two hits and two runs with a strikeout. Rodriguez won his 12^th game of the season pitching six innings giving up four hits and three runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Chris Resop pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and three runs with a walk, Jared Hughes pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and Jason Grilli pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Jack Hanrahan pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts.

Ruben Tejada had two hits and drew a walk, Justin Turner had a hit and two RBI and Wright had two hits and three RBI. Ike Davis drew a walk, Andres Torres had a hit and drew a walk and Jordany Valdespin had a hit. Torres hit a double, Turner and Wright each hit a homerun. The Mets were 2-4 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Valdespin had a stolen base, Turner committed an error and Torres had an outfield assist. Hampson had a pickoff.

Presley had two hits, Harrison had two hits and two RBI and Andruw McCutchen had a hit and drew two walks. Jones had two hits, three RBI and drew a walk, Sanchez had an RBI and drew a walk and Pedro Alvarez had a hit, four RBI and drew two walks. Rod Barajas drew a walk, Rodriguez had a hit. McCutchen and Presley hit a double, Harrison hit a triple and Alvarez and Jones hit a homerun. The Pirates were 2-8 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Presley was caught stealing and Harrison and Jones each committed an error.

In the first inning Sanchez hit into a fielders choice and Alvarez hit a three run homerun. It was 4-0 Pirates and Turner and Wright hit back-to-back homeruns to make it 4-3 in the first inning. The Pirates scored three runs in the second making it 7-3. Harrison hit a two run triple and a run scored on an error. In the fifth Alvarez walked scoring a run making it 8-3. In the seventh Valdespin had an RBI single and Wright hit a two run single to make it 8-6Pirates. In the ninth Jones hit a two run homerun to make it 10-6 and that was the final score.

The Mets record fell to 70-84 and the Pirates record improved to 76-78. The two teams will play the third game of a four game series on Wednesday night.

Yankees Monday night postgame notes

Here are the Yankees postgame notes from Monday night in Minnesota.  The theme is Andy Pettitte who has been great now in two starts coming back from the DL.  It is like he never left, he hasn't missed a beat tossing 11 shutout innings.  The notes are courtesy of the Lohud Yankees Blog and my thoughts are added in. 

Isn’t that what makes Andy Pettitte who he is? There should be a sense of not knowing what to expect — he’s 40 years old, came out of retirement in March, missed two and a half months with a broken ankle — but he takes the ball in a game like this, delivers six scoreless and everyone talks about that being the Pettitte everyone was expecting. The guy hasn’t allowed a run since coming off the disabled list, and we’re being reminded of everything that created the Pettitte legacy in the first place.  It really is amazing but just because these guys have gotten older meaning Pettitte, Jeter and Rivera and Posada before he retired doesn't mean they can't still get it done.  These veteran Yankees have gotten it done for so long and in the biggest games that nothing can bother or rattle them. 

Joe Girardi
“It’s the same old Andy. We’ve seen it for years. When he needs a double play, he finds a way to get it. … I think a lot of it has to do with his preparation. He knows that he’s prepared every time he goes out there. How consistent his work is. That his mechanics are going to be consistent for the most part every time he goes out there. He’s been in so many situations, he’s able to relax and not make too much of one hitter. It has a lot to do with poise. He’s got a lot of poise.”

Russell Martin
“He’s a natural competitor. You’re going to have to try to outcompete him, and I don’t know anybody that can really do that. He’s going to make pitches, he’s going to make quality pitches, and that’s it. He’s in control, he’s in command out there. Even behind in counts he doesn’t give in. He’s going to make that hitter earn his money.”

Eric Chavez
“It was tough (facing him with Oakland). He used to throw the cutter, and then he actually later started throwing sinkers, so that made it really tough. And then obviously he’d put you away with a slider. He just makes good pitches. You don’t have to have good stuff to make good pitches, and he’s evidence of that. … I think he’s more bullish (with men in scoring position). He doesn’t want to give that up. He had a couple of groundballs and you could tell, in his mind, in that at-bat, he’s like I want to get a groundball right here and turn two. And he’s able to execute those pitches.”

Nick Swisher
“I love this guy, dude. I absolutely love him, bro. There’s nothing that fazes him. Takes a full year off, comes back, breaks his foot on a crazy play, Has been itching to get back in the (rotation) for a long time, and once he does, he delivers every single time. You can only look at that, and just be like, man, I want to be like that. Every time he takes that mound, he’s locked in out there. I’m not as fierce as he is, man, I know that.”

Andy Pettitte
“I just feel like I’m able to relax and get the ball where I want to. Maybe it’s crazy, but maybe my focus gets even a little bit tighter when you get in a little bit tougher jams. I can remember giving up plenty of big hits with runners in scoring position and stuff, so you just try to command your mechanics and see your pitches and have an idea of what you want to do with the hitter. And I was fortunate to be able to execute it tonight on some pitches.”

The Yankees lead is up to a game and a half, the largest its been since September 2. “You’ve got to like it,” Girardi said. “Any time you can pick that up, it’s great. We’ve been so close since about September 1, since this started, so any time you can do that, it’s great.”  You have to be happy about having a little bit of a cushion, this hasn't been an easy year and it would be nice to pull away at the end

Pettitte kind of looked awkward coming off the mound at one point, but everyone said it was a non-issue.

Curtis Granderson is the fifth Yankee to have back-to-back 40-homer seasons, joining Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle and Jason Giambi. “At least for one sentence I get to get compared to those guys, so that’s pretty cool,” he said.  That is nice but he has become homerun or nothing, the average is really low and he strikes out a ton.

A half inning after his homer, Granderson threw out Ryan Doumit at the plate. It was a good throw, and probably a better tag by Martin. “We’re up and it was kind of a time where you could make more of a risk there being up for vs. it being closer or later in the ballgame,” Granderson said. “Russ did a great job hanging in there, catching the ball and applying the tag.”

Swisher said something last year about it taking a “grown man” to hit the ball out to the gaps in this park. He did just that tonight. “I must have turned into one. I’ve grown up, guys!” Swisher said. “… I thought it was going off the wall. I truly did. And then the next thing I knew it was going off the scoreboard. I was like, oh (wow)!”

Girardi went to the mound to check on Pettitte in the sixth inning, but it was a quick visit and Pettitte stayed in the game. “I just wanted to make sure he had a little bit left in the tank,” Girardi said.

 Pettitte was predictably hard on himself tonight. “I know how sharp I was when I got hurt, and obviously I’m a work in progress right now,” he said. “I would love to see my stuff get back to where it was, so, there’s some stuff I still need to work on and get some reps in my bullpens and stuff like that but like I said it was good to be able to stay out of the middle of zone and make some big pitches and get some big outs when I needed it. Hopefully we can continue to do that and help this team win.”

Pettitte didn’t go too much into specifics of what he needs to fix, but it seems like nothing more than minor tinkering and adding some durability in his legs. “I just think starting the game out, I felt stronger,” he said. “Again, I have some stuff mechanically I need to work out. There’s some things I know I need to do. I could sit here and bore you all to death with it. I know I still have some work.”

Martin said he thought Pettitte was pretty sharp and Pettitte was just being hard on himself. Here’s Girardi on Pettitte: “I thought he made a big step tonight. I thought his command was better than the other day. What did he get up to, 87, 88 (pitches)? I think those are two pretty big steps today. I think he’s a lot closer.”

Final word goes to Swisher. “It almost feels like nobody’s even paying attention to how many games are left. We’re just letting this thing snowball into something big. We’ve been playing great ball here as of late, and that’s what we want to continue to keep doing. All the way into the end of October. Right now, we feel great, getting guys healthy, getting guys back, getting huge hits at big times and usually that results in big wins for us.”

The New York Yankees use the long ball to beat the Minnesota Twins

The New York Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins by the score of 6-3 on Monday night. The game took place at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Andy Pettitte started for the Yankees and pitched well and their bullpen made it interesting. The Yankees offense was led by Eric Chavez and Raul Ibanez. Hendriks started for the Twins and wasn’t very good. The Twins bullpen was good and their offense was led by Denard Span and Pedro Florimon. 
Pettitte pitched six shutout innings giving up seven hits. He walked one and struck out three and won his fifth game of the season. Joba Chamberlain pitched a perfect inning, Cory Wade pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run and Justin Thomas pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and two runs with a walk and a strikeout. Dave Robertson pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a strikeout. Liam Henriks pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and six runs with a walk and four strikeouts. He lost his eighth game of the season. Lewis Perdomo pitched 2/3 of an inning walking a batter, Tyler Robertson pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out one and Matt Capps pitched an inning giving up two hits.

Derek Jeter had a hit and drew two walks. The hit extended his hitting streak to 18 games, Ichiro Suzuki had a hit, Alex Rodriguez had a hit and Robinson Cano had an RBI. Nick Swisher had a hit and two RBI, Curtis Granderson had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Ibanez had two hits and an RBI. Chavez had three hits and an RBI, Suzuki hit a double, Swisher, Granderson, Ibanez and Chavez each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Granderson had an outfield assist.

Span had two hits, Ben Revere had a hit and Joe Mauer had a hit. Josh Willingham drew a walk, Justin Morneau had a hit, Ryan Doumit had a hit and drew a walk and Jamey Carroll had a hit. Chris Parmalee had a hit and drew two RBI, Florimon had two hits and an RBI. Doumit hit a double, Parmalee hit a triple and Florimon hit his first major league homerun. The Twins were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

The Yankees took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a Cano groundout and Swisher two run homerun. In the fourth Granderson hit a solo homerun to extend the lead to 4-0. Ibanez and Chavez each hit a solo homerun in the seventh to make it 6-0 Yankees. The Twins would get on the board in the eighth on a Florimon solo homerun. In the ninth Parmalee hit a two run triple to make it 6-3 and that was the final score.

The Yankees have now won eight of their last nine games. The Yankees took the first game of three and will play game two on Tuesday night. The Yankees lead in the AL East is now 1 ½ games in the AL East. The Yankees record improved to 89-64 and the Twins record fell to 64-90.

The New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2

The New York Mets defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates by the score of 6-2 on Monday night. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. Jenrry Mejia started for the Mets and pitched well and the bullpen shut it down. Ike Davis led the offense for the Mets. Kyle McPherson didn’t pitch too well for the Pirates and their bullpen was pretty good. Neil Walker led the Pirates offense. 
Mejia pitched five innings giving up four hits and no runs. He walked two and struck out four and won his first game of the season. Manny Acosta pitched an inning walking a batter, Justin Hampson pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk and Jeurys Familia pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run. Robert Carson didn’t record an out and gave up two hits, Bobby Parnell pitched to two batters and retired them both and Ramon Ramirez pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with a walk and a strikeout. McPherson pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up four hits and four runs with three walks and three strikeouts. He lost his second game of the season. Hisanori Takahashi pitched to one batter and retired him, Jeff Karstens pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and two runs with two strikeouts and Justin Wilson pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts. Chris Leroux pitched a perfect inning.

Fred Lewis had a hit, Daniel Murphy had a hit and David Wright had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk. Davis had two hits and five RBI, Ruben Tejada had a hit and drew a walk and Josh Thole drew a walk. Davis hit two homeruns and the Mets were 2-4 with runners in scoring position and left two men on base. Murphy had a stolen base and Tejada was caught stealing. Thole had a passed ball.

Alex Presley had a hit, Jose Tabata had a hit and an RBI and Josh Harrison had a hit and drew a walk. Andruw McCutchen had a hit and drew a walk, Garrett Jones had a hit and an RBI and Walker had two hits and drew a walk. Michael McKenry had a hit and drew a walk, Starling Marte drew a walk. McCutchen hit a triple and the Pirates were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. Harrison and Marte each had a stolen base.

Davis hit a two run homerun in the fourth to make it 2-0 Mets. Wright hit an RBI single and Davis hit a three run homerun in the fifth to make it 6-0 Mets. Jones hit an RBI single in the eighth and Tabata hit an RBI single in the ninth to make it 6-2 which would be the final score.

The Mets won the first of four games and improved their record to 70-83. The Pirates record fell to 75-78. The two teams will play game two of their series on Tuesday night.

The New York Mets sweep the Miami Marlins

The New York Mets defeated the Miami Marlins by the score of 3-2 on Sunday afternoon. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. Chris Young started for the Mets and pitched well and their bullpen was good. David Wright and Ruben Tejada were the offensive stars for the Mets. Solano was the Marlins offensive star and Ricky Nolasco started for the Marlins and pitched well and their bullpen was pretty good. 
Young pitched six innings giving up five hits and two runs with one earned. He walked two and struck out five. Ramon Ramirez pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout, Manny Acosta pitched an inning with a walk and Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and won his fifth game. Nolasco pitched seven innings giving up five hits and two runs with two walks and five strikeouts. Michael Dunn pitched to one batter and struck him out, Heath Bell pitched to two batters and retired them both and Ryan Webb lost his third game of the season pitching 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and a run with two walks and a strikeout.

Tejada had a hit and an RBI which were both the game winning, Daniel Murphy had a hit and Wright had a hit and two RBI. Scott Hairston had a hit, Lucas Duda had a hit and drew a walk and Andres Torres had a hit and drew a walk. Young had a hit, Mike Baxter drew a walk and Fred Lewis drew a walk. Murphy, Young and Torres each hit a double and Wright hit a homerun. The Mets were 2-10 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Shoppach and Tejada each committed an error and Shoppach had a passed ball.

Bryan Petersen had an RBI, Gorkys Hernandez drew a walk and Jose Reyes drew a walk. Greg Dobbs had a hit and drew a walk, Donovan Solano had two hits and Rob Brantly had a hit. Gil Velazquez had a hit, Dobbs hit a double and the Marlins were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Reyes and Hernandez each had a stolen base. Brantly had a passed ball.

The Mets scored two runs in the first inning on a Wright two run homerun. In the fifth Petersen hit a sacrifice fly and Reyes had a stolen base and Shoppach had a throwing error which scored a run and tied the game at two. In the ninth Tejada hit an RBI single which was a walk-off hit and won the game 3-2 for the Mets.

The Mets swept the three game series from the Marlins. The Mets record improved to 69-83 and the Marlins record fell to 66-87. The Mets will begin a four game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at home on Monday night. They will then finish the season on the road.

The New York Yankees fail to sweep the Oakland Athletics

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Oakland Athletics by the score of 5-4 on Sunday afternoon. The game was played at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and didn’t pitch very well, the bullpen was ok. Nick Swisher, Derek Jeter and Raul Ibanez led the offense. A.J. Griffin started for the A’s and had a control problem right from the beginning, their bullpen was good and Cliff Pennington led the offense. 
Kuroda pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up seven hits and five runs with four of them being earned. He walked three and struck out five. He suffered his 11^th loss of the season, Clay Rapada pitched 2/3 of an inning striking out one, David Phelps pitched an inning giving up a hit and drew a walk and Boone Logan pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two strikeouts. Cody Eppley faced one batter and retired him. Griffin pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up seven hits and four runs with three walks and four strikeouts. Jerry Blevins won his fifth game of the season pitching 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and striking out two, Ryan Cook pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and striking out a batter and Sean Doolittle pitched an inning walking one and striking out one. Grant Balfour saved his 20^th game of the season pitching a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Jeter had two hits and drew a walk, Ichiro Suzuki had a hit and Robinson Cano had a hit and drew a walk. Swisher had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk, Curtis Granderson had a hit and Russell Martin had a hit and drew a walk. Ibanez had two hits and an RBI, Eduardo Nunez had an RBI. Ibanez hit a double, Swisher hit a homerun and the Yankees were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. Suzuki had a stolen base and Nunez committed two errors.

Stephen Drew had a hit and drew a walk, Yoenis Cespedes had a hit and an RBI and Brandon Moss had a hit and drew a walk. Gomes drew two walks, Josh Donaldson had two hits and Cliff Pennington had three hits and three RBI. Moss hit a double, Pennington hit a homerun and the A’s were 3-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Seth Smith and Doolittle committed an error.

Kuroda threw a wild pitch in the first and the A’s took a 1-0 lead. In the second Pennington hit a two run homerun making it 3-0. In the fourth Swisher hit a two run homerun, Ibanez hit an RBI double and Nunez had an RBI groundout. It was 4-3 Yankees and the A’s tied the game in the fifth inning. Cespedes hit an RBI single. In the sixth Pennington hit an RBI single in the sixth to give the A’s a 5-4 lead and that was the final score.

The Yankees won two out of three in this series. The Yankees remain one game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles with ten games to go. The Yankees will head to Minnesota and play a three game series beginning on Monday night. The Yankees record fell to 88-64 and the A’s record improved to 86-66.