Pitching Derails Subway Series Opener

If you were told before today's game that Johan Santana (5-2) would allow 3 home runs, you'd probably feel pretty positive about the Yankees chances, especially with a veteran, Andy Pettitte, on the mound. But it was the Mets taking advantage of a poor inning by Pettitte (3-5) and a bad job by the Yankees bullpen to win the opener of the weekend series, 7-4.

The Yankees had taken a quick 2-0 lead in the 1st inning when Derek Jeter belted a 2-run home run off the facing of the upper deck in left, but the middle innings caused Pettitte trouble once again. The left-hander has struggled in the 4th through the 6th innings, especially of late, and today was no different.

After allowing 2 harmless hits through the first 3 innings, Pettitte gave up 3 straight singles to start the 3rd. Carlos Beltran picked up an RBI after his single to left scored Ryan Church and moved David Wright up to 2nd with no one out. Pettitte then got into further trouble by walking Moises Alou to load the bases.

Pettitte looked he might escape further trouble after he retired Carlos Delgado on a pop out to Jeter and got a call 3rd strike on a 3-2 pitch to Damion Easley that appeared to be out of the strike zone. Easley argued with home plate ump Mike Reilly to no avail, but it may have influenced Brian Schneider's at-bat. Schneider appeared to take a called 3rd strike to end the inning, but much to Pettitte's amazement Reilly called it a ball. The call came back to haunt Pettitte, who then walked Schneider to force in the tying run. Luis Castillo then gave the Mets the lead for good with an infield single before Pettitte retired Jose Reyes on a pop out.

As Pettitte began to struggle, Mets starter Johan Santana breezed. He retired the Yankees on just 6 pitches in each of the 4th and 5th innings, which meant Pettitte had to get right back out there. As Santana set the Yankees down with ease, the Mets added some big tack on runs against the Yankees pen.

Kyle Farnsworth, who has been very reliable of late, reverted back to his old form in the 7th inning. Reyes lead off the inning by ripping a hanging cutter into the right field seats for his 3rd home run of the year. After a walk to Church, Wright crushed one the other way for a 2-run homer, his 8th, to give the Mets a 6-2 lead.

The Yankees finally chipped away at Santana on solo home runs Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu to cut the Mets lead to 6-4. When Jeter followed Abreu's home run with a 2-out double in the 8th, Willie Randolph immediately sent for closer Billy Wagner for a potential 4-out save. Wagner retired Hideki Matsui on an inning ending ground out to Castillo to get out of the 8th.

The Mets got one more big run off Joba Chamberlain in the 9th when Beltran tripled just out of the reach of a diving Melky Cabrera and came home on Delgado's 2-out single.

The Yankees had one last gasp in the bottom of the 9th when Giambi and Robinson Cano got a pair of cheap singles to bring the tying run to the plate. But Cabrera flew out, Shelly Duncan fouled out to Schneider, and Morgan Ensberg went down swinging on a 3-2 pitch.

News and Notes

Alex Rodriguez got closer to returning by playing in an extended spring training game. He homered in 4 at-bats.

Derek Jeter's 3 hits gave him a .386 average against the Mets, the highest opposing average against the Shea residents.

Billy Wagner has not been scored upon in 17 innings this season. Today's save tied him with Jeff Reardon for 6th on the all-time list with 367.

Weird stat of the day - Jason Giambi became the first player since Matt Diaz in 2005 to hit a pinch-hit home run off of Santana after being behind in the count 0-2.

Moises Alou was playing the first game of his career at Yankee Stadium after 17 years.

May 17, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Mets	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	0	1		7	13	0
NY Yankees	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0		4	9	0

NY Mets	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Reyes, SS	5	1	2	1	0	1	3	.263
Church, RF	4	2	1	0	1	2	2	.309
Wright, 3B	5	2	3	2	0	0	0	.279
Beltran, CF	5	2	3	1	0	1	1	.259
Alou, LF	3	0	1	0	1	1	1	.342
Chavez, LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.178
Delgado, 1B	5	0	2	1	0	2	6	.228
Easley, DH	4	0	0	0	0	3	5	.222
a-Anderson, PH-DH	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.237
Schneider, C	3	0	0	1	1	0	0	.307
Castillo, 2B	3	0	1	1	1	0	0	.261
Totals	38	7	13	7	4	11	19
a-Struck out for Easley in the 9th.
BATTING 3B: Beltran (3, Chamberlain). HR: Reyes (3, 7th inning off Farnsworth, 0 on, 0 out), Wright (8, 7th inning off Farnsworth, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Reyes 5; Church; Wright 6; Beltran 5; Alou; Delgado 2; Castillo. RBI: Beltran (24), Schneider (13), Castillo (9), Reyes (15), Wright 2 (34), Delgado (18). 2-out RBI: Schneider; Castillo; Delgado. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Beltran; Reyes 2; Delgado. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Wright (6, 2nd base off Pettitte/Moeller), Beltran (5, 3rd base off Pettitte/Moeller). CS: Alou (1, 2nd base by Pettitte/Moeller), Castillo (1, 3rd base by Ramirez/Moeller). PO: Alou (1st base by Pettitte). FIELDING Outfield assists: Church (Damon at home), Beltran (Jeter at 2nd base).

NY Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Santana (W, 5-2)	7.2	7	4	4	2	5	3	3.30
Wagner (S, 9)	1.1	2	0	0	0	1	0	0.00

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	3	1	1	0	1	1	0	.257
Abreu, RF	4	1	2	1	0	1	1	.287
Jeter, SS	4	1	3	2	0	0	1	.314
Matsui, DH	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	.306
Giambi, 1B	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	.193
Cano, 2B	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.208
Cabrera, CF	3	0	0	0	1	0	2	.262
Gonzalez, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.257
a-Duncan, S, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.194
Moeller, C	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.243
b-Ensberg, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	.214
Totals	34	4	9	4	2	6	12
a-Popped out for Gonzalez in the 9th. b-Struck out for Moeller in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Abreu (9, Santana), Jeter (6, Santana). HR: Jeter (2, 1st inning off Santana, 1 on, 1 out), Giambi (8, 7th inning off Santana, 0 on, 0 out), Abreu (5, 8th inning off Santana, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Damon; Abreu 6; Jeter 7; Giambi 5; Cano. RBI: Jeter 2 (21), Giambi (21), Abreu (25). 2-out RBI: Abreu. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Moeller; Matsui 2; Ensberg. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING DP: (Moeller-Gonzalez). Pickoffs: Pettitte (Alou at 1st base).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pettitte (L, 3-5)	6.0	7	3	3	2	7	0	4.42
Farnsworth	1.0	3	3	3	1	1	2	4.05
Ramirez	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0.00
Chamberlain	1.0	2	1	1	0	2	0	2.95

HBP: Alou (by Pettitte).
Pitches-strikes: Santana 100-67, Wagner 21-15, Pettitte 116-73,
Farnsworth 29-17, Ramirez 13-8, Chamberlain 23-16.
Ground outs-fly outs: Santana 9-7, Wagner 1-2, Pettitte 3-7,
Farnsworth 1-1, Ramirez 0-1, Chamberlain 1-0.
Batters faced: Santana 30, Wagner 6, Pettitte 27, Farnsworth 7,
Ramirez 4, Chamberlain 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Wagner 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Mike Reilly. 1B: Bob Davidson. 2B: Alfonso Marquez. 3B: Andy Fletcher.
Weather: 71 degrees, sunny.
Wind: 15 mph, Out to RF.
T: 3:08.
Att: 55,093.

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