The New York Mets are shutout by the Atlanta Braves as Matt Harvey is out dueled

The New York Mets were defeated by the Atlanta Braves on Sunday afternoon.  The game took place at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia and the final score was 1-0.  Matt Harvey started and pitched well and the Mets only managed four hits and no one had more than a hit. 

Harvey pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up six hits and a run with a walk and five strikeouts.  Harvey lost his fifth game of the season.  Alex Torres pitched 1/3 of an inning walking two batters and Carlos Torres pitched an inning striking out two. 

Julio Teheran pitched seven innings giving up a hit and no runs with two walks and five strikeouts.  Teheran won his fifth game of the season.  Nick Masset pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit, Dana Eveland pitched to one batter and struck him out and Jim Johnson saved his fourth game of the season pitching an inning and giving up two hits. 

Curtis Granderson had a hit and drew two walks, Juan Lagares had a hit and Wilmer Flores had a hit.  Eric Campbell had a hit which was a double and the Mets were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. 

Jace Peterson had a hit and drew a walk, Cameron Maybin drew two walks and Kelly Johnson had a hit.  Andrelton Simmons had a hit, Eury Perez had a hit and Ryan Lavarnway had a hit.  Pedro Ciriaco had a hit and an RBI, Peterson hit a double and Lavarnway hit a double.  The Braves were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.  Maybin had a stolen base. 

The only run of the game was scored in the seventh on a Ciriaco RBI single.  The Mets were swept in the three game series and will be off on Monday.  The Mets will begin a three game series with the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park in Milwaukee on Tuesday night.   

Yankees Saturday night postgame notes

Here are the Yankees postgame notes.  They are courtesy of the Lohud Yankees blog and my own thoughts mixed in as always. 

David Phelps continued to make a positive impression despite taking this 4-1 loss to the Red Sox. The rookie went a career-high 6 2/3 and gave up just three runs and seven hits. He struck out seven and walked none in what will likely be his final start before CC Sabathia comes off the DL. Joe Girardi said he hopes that will be Friday night in Cleveland.  Girardi is cautious but Sabathia said emphatically he will be starting that game.  I guess anything can happen before then but I would be shocked if he wasn't pitching on Friday. 
But Phelps can still be an asset in the bullpen. He’s 3-4 with a 2.69 ERA in 24 outings overall. In his five starts, including two since Sabathia went down with his elbow problem, Phelps is 1-1 with a 2.92 ERA. Someone will have to go to make room for Sabathia, but Phelps is pitching better than Joba Chamberlain and Cody Eppley right now.  I think Eppley might be the odd man out, Joba is secure they know he is coming off tommy john and will give him some time to get the rust off. 
“We like what he does,” Girardi said about Phelps. “He’s a guy that’s somewhat of a swing guy for us. If we need him to start, he can start. If we need him to give us an inning in the bullpen, a couple of innings in the bullpen, he can do that. If we need him to give long relief, he can do that.  I like what he does also, he is like Ramiro Mendoza used to be and even Alredo Aceves who is now the Red Sox closer. 
“He’s a valuable guy on your team because he can do so many different things, and he’s had success in all areas.”
Phelps was done in by an opposite-field, two-run homer in the first by Adrian Gonzalez.
“It was right where we wanted it,” Phelps said. “The ball was down and off the plate. … It’s incredibly frustrating.”
Jon Lester’s inconsistency has been problematic for Boston, but the Yankees managed just five hits off the lefty. He’s still only 7-10 with a 5.03 after back-to-back starts with one run allowed.  He may be turning it around but it looks to be too late especially if the rest of the staff and especially Josh Beckett. 
“When you look up at the numbers, you kind of step back because you know that’s not the type of pitcher he really is,” said Nick Swisher, who had two of his three hits off Lester. “Tonight you got the best Jon Lester that we’ve seen in a while.”
The Yankees finished 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
“It’s hard to win a game when you do that,” Girardi said.
Curtis Granderson seems to be breaking out of his slump, coming through with a homer and two hits for the second consecutive game. Both homers were off left-handers. He has hit 11 of his 32 off lefties.
Derek Jeter lost his 13-game hitting streak. He batted .367 over that stretch.
Robinson Cano is struggling right now. He went hitless for the fourth consecutive game with an at-bat, his worst stretch since a four-game hitless run in 2008. His career high is five straight. That was in 2005.  It just seems like that can't happen to Cano but it does happen to them all.  Cano will get hot again and then you will think he can never get out. 
The Yankees need to come up with an answer for Pedro Ciriaco. He had a four-hit game against them at Fenway last month and he went 4 for 4 in this game. He’s batting .517 against them in seven games, going 15 for 29. He’s batting .276 in 28 games against other teams.  That is just weird, I have heard of Yankee killers but this is just nuts, he hits 241 points higher against them then any other team. 
“He’s on fire against us,” Phelps said. “It’s one of those things.”
Sunday night baseball on ESPN with feature a pitching matchup between Hiroki Kuroda, who has been very good, and Josh Beckett, who has not.  It is the rubber game and the Red Sox have to win series if they are going to make a run at the playoffs at all

The Yankees offense gets shutdown as the Red Sox even the series

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Boston Red Sox by the score of 4-1 on Saturday evening. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. David Phelps started for the Yankees and pitched well in what should be his final start before ace CC Sabathia returns next week. The Yankees offense didn’t do much against Jon Lester. Nick Swisher has been red hot and he led the Yankees offense. Lester started for the Red Sox and was great and Pedro Ciriaco led the Sox offense. He is hitting over 500 against the Yankees this season.  Phelps pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up three runs and seven hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out seven in the longest outing of his young career. Phelps lost his fourth game of the season. Boone Logan pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout, Cody Eppley pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and a run with a walk and a strikeout. Clay Rapada pitched 2/3 of an inning retiring both batters and Derek Lowe faced one batter and retired him. Lester won his seventh game and pitched seven innings giving up five hits and a run with two walks and four strikeouts. Andrew Bailey pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one, Craig Breslow pitched 2/3 of an inning retiring both batters and Alfredo Aceves pitched one inning giving up a hit and striking out one for his 25^th save.
Derek Jeter drew a walk, Swisher had three hits and Eric Chavez had a hit. Curtis Granderson had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk, Ichiro Suzuki had a hit and Granderson hit a double and hit a homerun. The Yankees were 0-9 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Suzuki had a stolen base and Andruw Jones committed an error.
Carl Crawford had a hit, Dustin Pedroia had a hit and Adrian Gonzalez had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk. Scott Podsednik had a hit, Ciriaco had four hits and Nick Punto had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk. Punto, Pedroia and Ciriaco each hit a double. Gonzalez hit a homerun and the Red Sox were 1-10 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base. Crawford, Ciriaco and Punto each had a stolen base.
The Red Sox jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Gonzalez hit a two run homerun. In the fourth Granderson hit a solo homerun to make it a 2-1 game. In the fifth Punto hit an RBI double and it was 3-1 Red Sox. The Red Sox would score the final run of the game in the ninth inning as Eppley threw a wild pitch allowing Podsednik to score. The Yankees just couldn’t get anything going against Lester all day and then the bullpen.
The Yankees record fell to 71-49 and the Red Sox record improved to 59-62. The Yankees still lead the AL East by 5 ½ games depending on the outcome of the late games tonight. The Red Sox trail the Yankees by 12 ½ games. The two teams will play the rubber game of the three game series on Sunday night. The Yankees won 6-4 on Friday and then the Red Sox evened the series on Saturday evening.