Lincecum Grabs NL CY

San Francisco Giants second year pitcher Tim Lincecum is this year's winner of the National League CY Young Award. Lincecum finished the regular season with an 18-5 record to go along with a 2.62 ERA and a league best 265 strikeouts. The 24-yr old, who looks no more than 14, is just the second Giants pitcher to win the award. Mike McCormick was the other winner in 1967.

Lincecum beat out our choice for the award, Brandon Webb, by 64 votes and picked up 23 first place votes. In his first season in Flushing, two time AL winner Johan Santana finished third. Our pre-season pick, Jake Peavy, didn't receiving any votes. It's still a better pick than our AL choice of Erik Bedard.

2008 NL Cy Young Award Voting
Pitcher, Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Tim Lincecum, SF	23	7	1	137
Brandon Webb, ARI	4	15	8	73
Johan Santana, NYM	4	8	11	55
Brad Lidge, PHI		1	7	10
CC Sabathia, MIL	1	1	1	9
Ryan Dempster, CHC			4	4

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The Pennant Race - 8/13

AL EAST

The Red Sox gained a game on the the Rays with a win in one of the wildest games in recent memory. The Sox jumped out to a 10-0 first inning lead with David Ortiz hitting a pair of 3-run home runs. As the Fenway faithful were yelling, "This is wicked awesome!", the Rangers started chipping away and put up an eight spot in the fifth inning. Trailing 12-10, the Rangers responded with a 5-run sixth inning. Suddenly the Rangers had a 16-14 lead. But no lead is safe in Fenway and it always helps to bat last. The Sox battered the Rangers bullpen for four more runs in the eighth, capped off with Kevin Youkilis' second home run, a 3-run shot. Texas got one back off Jon Papelbon in the ninth, but the Red Sox held on for a 19-17 win.

The Red Sox look like they have one more loss though, Mike Lowell to the DL with a strained oblique. Shortstop Julio Lugo isn't expected back until September, so Youkilis will probably move to third base, with Sean Casey taking over at first.

Meanwhile A's rookie Gio Gonzalez picked up his first major league victory with five innings of work in Oakland's 2-1 win over Tampa. The Rays have to be concerned about their offense now with Evan Longoria out until approximately September 1, and Carl Crawford done for the season with a tendon tear in his finger. One month of Barry Bonds? A deal for Gary Sheffield?


AL CENTRAL

The White Sox leaped over the Twins and back into first place with a 9-0 white washing of the Royals. Javier Vazquez struck out 10 in eight innings to improve to 9-10. The home run happy Chisox got blasts from Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzyinski, and Nick Swisher.

Tigers owner Mike Illitch had enough of Gary Sheffield's mouth and ordered the team to put him on waivers. Sheffield responded by hitting two home runs. The Tigers look like they may also shut down Joel Zumaya with continuing arm problems.


AL WEST

The Angels won for a change, 7-3 over Seattle. K-Rod picked up his 44th save. Mark Teixeira has 10 RBI in 12 games with the Halos.


NL EAST

Mets fans and radio talking heads have been getting on Johan Santana for his habit of giving up leads as soon as the Mets get them. The two time Cy Young winner blew two leads last night, but the Mets pulled out a 4-3 win when Damion Easley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Santana earned his 10th win.

The Mets picked up a game on the Phillies, whose bullpen blew a lead late to the Dodgers. Cole Hamels departed the game with a 3-2 lead after seven innings, but Chad Durbin gave up the tying run in the eighth and J.C. Romero was tagged for a walk-off single by LA's Andre Ethier for a 4-3 loss.

The Phillies pen took another hit when it was learned that they will probably be without Tom Gordon for the rest of the year.

Hanley Ramirez's second inning 3-run home run withstood the Cardinals and a lengthy rain delay, in the Marlins' 4-3 win. Rookie Chris Volstad outpitched 13-game winner Kyle Lohse for his fourth win.


NL CENTRAL

With the Cubs and Braves rained out, the Brewers were able to gain a half-game in the standings with a 5-2 win over the Padres. Jeff Suppan pitched 4-hit ball for eight innings and Mike Cameron and Prince Fielder went deep.


NL WEST

The Diamondbacks retained their one game lead on the Dodgers with a 4-2 triumph over the Rockies. Randy Johnson earned his 10th win of the season and career win number 294. Newcomer Adam Dunn was 1-3 with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.

The Arizona Republic reported that Micah Owings may be one of the players going to Cincinnati in exchange for Dunn.

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The Pennant Race - 8/11

The Rays just keep on trucking. They squashed the Mariners, 11-3, on Sunday to set a franchise record with their 71st win. They also moved 4.5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East after Boston lost to the White Sox, 6-5 on Sunday. The Yankees dropped back to 8.5 out.

The AL Central will be a fight to the finish with the Twins continuing to breathe down the White Sox' necks. Just a half-game separates the two teams. The Twins are also just 1.5 back of the Red Sox for the Wild Card.

The Angels, of course, are racing to the finish line in the AL West.

The Phillies continue to cling to the lead in the NL East, 2 games ahead of the Mets and 2.5 ahead of the Marlins. The Cubs have a healthy 4 game lead over the Brewers, while the Cardinals continue to fade, 7 games back, though just 3 out of the Wild Card.

And in the not so wild West, the Diamondbacks lead Manny and the Dodgers by 1.5 games.

The Diamondbacks got a big time performance on Sunday from their ace, Brandon Webb, who went out and became the majors' first 17-game winner. Bad news too though for AZ, as second baseman Orlando Hudson was lost for the year with a dislocated wrist.

The Diamondbacks go on the road to face the Rockies and Astros this week.

The Dodgers and Giants have always crushed each other's hopes no matter who was better, and that continued this weekend as the Giants took two walk-off wins in their three games. The Dodgers led 2-1 in the 10th on Saturday, but after the Giants tied the game on an error, Aaron Roward sent the Giants home as winners with a single.

A two run rally in the 9th on Sunday gave the Giants another come-from-behind win. With the score tied 4-4, light hitting Eugenio Velez provided the game-winning hit.

Manny is still doing his part though, hitting .459, 4-11 in 9 games. Tough week ahead for the Dodgers though, as they host the Phillies and Brewers.

The Mets were hoping to get a sweep over the Marlins, but Josh Johnson again showed how much Florida has missed him. He allowed 2 runs and 5 hits over 7 innings to improve to 3-0, 3.19, in his 6 starts this season. After establishing himself as the most consistent Mets starter after Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey has gotten pounded in two of his last three starts.

The schedule is favorable for the Mets this week as they go on the road to face the Nationals and Pirates.

The Phillies dropped the first game of their series with the Pirates on Friday, but got a huge start from Brett Myers (7.2, 1 ER, 5 H) on Saturday and came from behind on Sunday when Chase Utley belted a 2-run home run. It was Utley's first home run at home in over a month.

The Phillies go west for the Padres and Dodgers before returning home for a big 8-game homestand.

The Cubs took 2 of 3 from the Cards with a big outing from Ryan Dempster on Sunday. Dempster recorded 85 saves over the last three seasons, but has really stepped up in his return to the rotation, recording his 13th win in a 6-2 Cubs victory.

The Cubs visit the southeast this week to take on the Braves and Marlins.

CC Sabathia's reps must be drooling all over themselves. They had to be concerned when their big left-hander was slow out of the gate, but after turning things around in Cleveland, he has been dominating National League hitters with the Brewers. Sabathia tossed a complete game shutout of the Nationals on Friday. It was his fourth complete game in seven starts since the trade to the NL, and he now has seven complete games on the season. That total in today's game is like completing 35 games back in the 1970's.

Another pending free agent, Ben Sheets, gave the Brewers another lift on Saturday, when he tossed a complete game shutout of his own. Ned Yost finally relented and used the pen on Sunday in a 10 inning Milwaukee win. It came on a Gabe Kapler walk-off home run. Yost does have a concern now though: Ryan Braun's lower back. The stud second-year player injured it on Saturday and missed yesterday's game.

The Brewers visit SoCal this week to face the Padres and Dodgers.

Wait a minute. Are we imagining things? Well, not in this case. That really was Rocco Baldelli in Tampa's lineup on Sunday. The injury-prone outfielder went 1-4 with an RBI in his first major league game since May 15, 2007. His timing was perfect with Carl Crawford landing on the DL with a hand injury. Crawford felt something pop in Saturday's game and its been diagnosed as a tendon problem.

Tampa managed just a split of the four game series after blowing a lead in Saturday's game, but they still extended their lead with the Red Sox losing 2 of 3 over the weekend. Boston and Chicago go at it for a fourth time tonight.

The Rays travel to Oakland and Texas this week.

Much has been made of Clay Buccholz in Boston, especially after his September no-hitter, but the right-hander has struggled in his first full season in Beantown. Yesterday's loss dropped him to 2-8, 6.32 this season. The Red Sox also lost Tim Wakefield to the DL with a sore shoulder and Bartolo Colon has been slow in rehabbing an injured back. The Red Sox may turn to David Pauley or could pull Justin Masterson back out of the bullpen to take Wakefield's spot in the rotation.

The Red Sox start a 6-game homestand on Tuesday with Texas and Toronto coming to town.

The White Sox have hit five home runs in the first three games of their series with the Red Sox, and have belted a major league-leading 165 for the season. They have seven players in double figures, with Carlos Quentin leading the team with 31. Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome are both closing in on the 30-mark while Nick Swisher and Joe Crede are approaching the 20 home run level.

The White Sox host KC for a 3-game series and then go out west to face the slumping A's for 3 games.

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The Pennant Race - 8/7

The Phillies came into today leading the Marlins by 2.5 and the Mets by 3. All three were involved in action this afternoon, with the Phillies and Marlins going head to head.

The Mets pen blew another lead for Johan Santana, but David Wright saved the day with a walk off 2-run home run for a 5-3 Mets win. Meanwhile the Marlins shut out the Phillies 3-0, after getting a big boost from rookie starter Chris Volstad.

Manny Ramirez homered this afternoon for the fourth time in 24 at-bats as a Dodger.

The Red Sox claimed Brian Giles off of waivers and have 48 hours to swing a deal. Where exactly Giles would play remains to be seen.

The Phillies claimed lefty set up man Scott Eyre off waivers from the Cubs and sent minor league pitcher Brian Schlitter (watch the typos) to Chi-town to complete the deal.

The Phillies have reportedly passed on free agent Freddy Garcia, feeling the veteran right-hander couldn't help them this year.

Chad Bradford made it through waivers and was dealt from the O's to the Rays for a player to be named later.

The Rockies were awarded Livan Hernandez after claiming the right-hander off of waivers from the Twins. The two teams couldn't work out a deal so the Twins decided to let him and his contract go.

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Around the Horn - 7/28

At first glance, you had to wonder what Jerry Manuel was doing. He took Johan Santana out of his last start in the 8th inning of a tight ball game with the Phillies. Yesterday Manuel let Santana throw a complete game in a 9-1 blow out of the Cardinals. But the Mets played 14 innings on Saturday and the bullpen needed a rest. In case you haven't seen it already, be sure to catch Carlos Beltran's home run robbing grab on Sunday.

The Tigers salvaged the final game, of their three game series with the White Sox, on Sunday with Miguel Cabrera driving in 2 runs. He's now knocked in 17 in the last 8 games.

Jarrod Washburn helped his trade rumors out Sunday with 8 innings of 4 hit ball against the weak hitting Blue Jays. Washburn is 3-2, 2.44 over his last 9 starts, averaging better than 6 innings per start.

The Royals topped the Rays on Sunday 6-1, but the big story may be lefty reliever Ron Mahay. KC signed Mahay to a free agent contract over the winter and now they have a decision to make. Keep him and keep the bullpen strong or trade him for some valuable chips. Mahay has allowed just 4 earned runs over his last 30 innings (1.20 ERA) pitched. He's been scored up on in just 4 of those 21 appearances.

The Cubs won a big one on Sunday, 9-6, after being down 5-0 to the Marlins. The victory earned them a split of the 4-game series and put them 1 game ahead of the Brewers going into tonight's Chicago-Milwaukee series. Ted Lilly faces CC Sabathia in the opener.

The Brewers had a chance to remain even, but after taking a 4-1 lead, they gave up 7 runs to the Astros in the 5th inning. Geoff Blum hit a pair of home runs off of Jeff Suppan, who may want to pitch around Blum from now on, since Blum is 13-24 (.542) off of him.

The Phillies remained a game back of the Mets after a wild one in the city of brotherly love. The Phillies came back from a 5-0 deficit and then nearly blew a 12-5 lead. They hung on for a 12-10 verdict with six home runs. The worst blow of the day though came on a home plate collision when Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino slammed his head right into the head of Braves catcher Brian McCann. McCann left with a mild concussion. We still don't know why catchers are fair game.

Here they come again. The Rockies' 2nd half surge last season got them into the playoffs, and ultimately, into the World Series. They're just 6 games back now in the NL West after an 11-0 drubbing of the Reds on Sunday. They don't know now whether to be buyers or sellers at Thursday's trade deadline.

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Yankees Outlast Mets and Rain

Yesterday's Yankees-Mets contest was delayed at the start and in the middle of the 6th inning by rain, but there was no stopping Andy Pettitte as he pitched the Yankees to a 3-2 win at Shea Stadium. A 57-minute stoppage didn't prevent Pettitte from returning in the bottom of the 6th, and though he gave up a solo home run to David Wright, he finished the inning and picked up his 9th win of the season.

A low scoring game was expected with Pettitte and Mets ace Johan Santana on the mound and that's exactly what the fans got. The Mets struck first when Ramon Castro drilled a Pettitte breaking ball over the wall in left-center field in the bottom of the 2nd for a 1-0 lead.

That would hold up until the 4th when Santana issued back to back walks to Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu to start the inning. Alex Rodriguez then lined a single to left to load the bases with no one out. Jason Giambi hit a grounder up the middle that shortstop Jose Reyes fielded on the 2nd base side of the bag. His only play was to retire Giambi at 1st base as Jeter scored the tying run. Jorge Posada's deep fly to Carlos Beltran in center sent home Abreu with the go ahead run.

The Mets put two aboard with 2 outs in the 5th when Reyes singled and Damien Easley walked. But Pettitte waited out an aggressive Reyes, spun around and threw to Jeter covering 2nd base to pick off the Mets speedster to end the inning.

The rains started coming down heavily in the top of the 6th as the Yankees added what proved to be the winning run. A-Rod drew a 1-out walk and was balked to 2nd base. Santana struck out Giambi for the 2nd out and the Mets opted to walk the switch-hitting Posada to face the left-handed hitting Robinson Cano instead. But the move backfired when Cano singled through the right side to score A-Rod for a 3-1 lead.

Pettitte was finished after the 6th inning and Joe Girardi finished the game by rote. Jose Veras and Kyle Farnsworth pitched one inning each and handed things over to Mariano Rivera who saved his 22nd game in as many tries with a 1-2-3 9th inning.


News and Notes

Mariano Rivera has now saved 54 of Andy Pettitte's wins. The only higher total in baseball are the 55 saves Dennis Eckersley had for A's teammate Bob Welch.

Derek Jeter's 18-game hitting streak against the Mets and 15-game current hitting streak both came to an end with an 0 for 4 day. But Jeter did reach safely on a walk and has done so in 42 straight interleague games.

Robinson Cano has a career best 5-game RBI streak.

Knicks' 1st round pick Danilo Gallinari threw out the first pitch.

Interesting conversation on yesterday's telecast between Joe Buck and Tim McCarver as to whether or not Andy Pettitte could be Hall of Fame material. They pointed out the fact that every pitcher 100 games over .500 is in the Hall. Pettitte is 92 games over .500 after yesterday's win. One problem though and it's spelled HGH. No telling how that would affect Hall voters.

Johan Santana is 0-4 with 1 no decision, despite a 2.53 ERA, since June 1. Guess that must be Willie Randolph's fault too.

Since Joba Chamberlain threw 114 pitches in his last start, the Yankees have moved his start back to Tuesday against Texas. Mike Mussina, who had his start called after 2 innings on Thursday, will go on Monday.


June 28, 2008

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

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	4	0	0	0	1	2	0	.317
Jeter, SS	4	1	0	0	1	1	2	.281
Abreu, RF	3	1	1	0	1	1	0	.286
Rodriguez, 3B	3	1	1	0	1	0	1	.327
Giambi, 1B	4	0	0	1	0	3	4	.263
Farnsworth, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Rivera, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Posada, C-1B	2	0	0	1	1	1	1	.297
Cano, 2B	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.244
Cabrera, CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	.249
Pettitte, P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
a-Betemit, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.267
Veras, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Molina, C	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.230
Totals	32	3	5	3	5	11	12
a-Struck out for Pettitte in the 7th.
BATTING TB: Abreu; Rodriguez; Cano 2; Molina. RBI: Giambi (46), Posada (20), Cano (33). 2-out RBI: Cano. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cabrera 2; Posada; Jeter. SF: Posada. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Rodriguez (10, 2nd base off Sanchez/Castro). FIELDING DP: (Jeter-Giambi). Pickoffs: Pettitte (Reyes at 2nd base).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pettitte (W, 9-5)	6.0	5	2	2	3	4	2	3.98
Veras (H, 4)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2.96
Farnsworth (H, 9)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4.00
Rivera (S, 22)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.74

NY Mets	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Reyes, SS	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	.294
Easley, 2B	2	0	1	0	2	0	0	.252
Wright, 3B	3	1	1	1	1	0	1	.288
Beltran, CF	4	0	0	0	0	4	3	.273
Delgado, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	.230
Tatis, RF	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.256
Phillips, A, LF	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.120
a-Castillo, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.253
Sanchez, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
c-Nixon, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.171
Castro, C	3	1	1	1	0	0	0	.259
Santana, P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.147
Feliciano, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
b-Anderson, PH-LF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.200
Totals	31	2	6	2	3	7	8
a-Popped out for Phillips, A in the 7th. b-Singled for Feliciano in the 7th. c-Struck out for Sanchez in the 9th.
BATTING HR: Castro (2, 2nd inning off Pettitte, 0 on, 2 out), Wright (15, 6th inning off Pettitte, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Reyes; Easley; Wright 4; Tatis; Castro 4; Anderson. RBI: Castro (8), Wright (63). 2-out RBI: Castro. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Delgado. GIDP: Phillips, A. Team LOB: 5. BASERUNNING PO: Reyes (2nd base by Pettitte). FIELDING E: Wright (11, throw).

NY Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Santana (L, 7-7)	6.0	4	3	3	4	8	0	3.01
Feliciano	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2.87
Sanchez	2.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	3.89

Balk: Santana.
IBB: Posada (by Santana).
Pitches-strikes: Pettitte 88-56, Veras 14-9, Farnsworth 11-8,
Rivera 12-10, Santana 113-66, Feliciano 15-10, Sanchez 34-20.
Ground outs-fly outs: Pettitte 8-5, Veras 1-2, Farnsworth 0-2,
Rivera 0-1, Santana 6-4, Feliciano 1-0, Sanchez 1-4.
Batters faced: Pettitte 24, Veras 4, Farnsworth 3, Rivera 3,
Santana 26, Feliciano 3, Sanchez 9.
Umpires: HP: Mike Everitt. 1B: Mike DiMuro.
2B: Tim McClelland. 3B: Larry Vanover.
Weather: 82 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 16 mph, R to L.
T: 3:00 (1:19 delay).
Att: 56,172.

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Indians Trying to Keep C.C.

Ed Price of the Star Ledger is reporting that the Cleveland Indians are making one last effort to sign their ace C.C. Sabathia to a long term contract. That according to a major league executive familiar with the situation.

Negotiations on a new deal broke down during spring training and Sabathia said he did not want to negotiate during the season. He's believe to be looking for a deal similar to the 6-yr, $137.5 million contract Johan Santana received from the Mets.

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Around the Horn - 6/24

Limited schedule last night, but some interesting match ups none the less.

Felix Hernandez belted a grand slam off of Johan Santana, but sprained his ankle one out shy of 5 innings. The bullpen did its his job in his place and the Mariners beat the Mets 5-2.

Another duel in Fenway between the Diamondbacks Dan Haren and the Red Sox Josh Beckett. Chris Young and Chris Snyder each drove in a run in the 7th to give the Diamondbacks a 2-1 win. The Red Sox also lost 1st baseman Kevin Youkilis in the game when a between inning warm up throw from Mike Lowell resulted in a black eye.

John Lackey missed the beginning of the season with arm trouble, but he looks like his old self on the mound. Last night he dominated the Nationals over 8 innings in the Angels 3-2 win. K-Rod picked up his 31st save after Garrett Anderson's 8th inning single snapped a 2-2 tie.

The Royals are loving interleague play. They're now 10-3 after beating up on the Rockies 8-4. Mark Teahen's 1st inning, 3-run home run got KC off to a fast start. Brian Bannister allowed 3 unearned runs in 7 innings for his 6th win.

The American League now holds a 99-77 advantage in this year's play.

In intralague play, Mike Cameron belted a 2-run home run to lead the Brewers over the Braves 4-1. Ben Sheets tossed a complete game 4-hitter and struck out 7.


News

Looking to beef up their squad, the Indians signed veterans Tony Graffanino and Juan Rincon to minor league deals.

Poor Nick Johnson's season is done again. The Nats 1st baseman will have surgery on his wrist to repair a torn ligament.

Mariners pitcher Erik Bedard may be headed back to the DL with a bad back, according to the Seattle Times.

It was done under the radar, compared to the Willie Randolph firing, but the Mets may have made a significant move when they hired Wayne Krivsky as assistant GM. Owner Fred Wilpon said GM Omar Minaya is doing a "great job", but ya never know.

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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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