And Then the Sun Shone Brightly

Beautiful day in the neighborhood after last night's monsoon. The Yankees fucked over their fans again by not calling the game until around 7 p.m.. That's NOT how you treat your customers. The game will be made up sometime in June, possibly as part of a day-night, two stadium doubleheader when the teams have a series at Shea.

Darrell Rasner's turn will be skipped so it will be Andy Pettitte facing fellow lefty Johan Santana this afternoon. Sunday night will now have Oliver Perez against Chien-Ming Wang, which is unfortunate because a John Maine vs. Wang match up would be a lot more exciting. Throw in the fact that the Yankees aren't getting any production against left-handers and you would rather face Maine even though he's a lot better pitcher than Perez.

Jorge Posada, Bobby Abreu, and Mets catcher Brian Schneider were at Mickey Mantle's restaurant yesterday to promote their charity driven wine labels. Posada is making good progress, but will not rush himself back even though the Yankees are hurting as much as he was.

"I'm going to be smart about it. ... I want to be back and I want to be healthy for the long run," said Posada..."

"I'm getting there," he added. "I'm really eager to get back. I feel good. I'm progressing. Every day is a different thing and so far it's been good."

Posada also had no problem with Boss Jr.'s recent outburst.

"He's saying the truth," Posada said. "He wants to win. There's nothing wrong of your owner wanting to win. So it's a matter of us really coming through and performing the way we need to."

Abreu agreed.

"We just have to go out there and do it," said Abreu. "You always have pressure. You just have to go out, do your job and help the team win."

Though the fans still get pumped up for the series, the impact isn't quite the same, especially for the Yankees that have been around a while. Andy Pettitte is one such player.

"Am I excited about it anymore? Not really, no," Pettitte said. "It's exciting for the fans, you get great crowds and the fans are into it. But as far as for me, it's not that exciting anymore."

Pettitte's more concerned about his poor pitching of late.

"Obviously I'm not happy at all with the way I pitched in my last start," said Pettitte, who left that game trailing 5-0. "And I'm definitely not happy working only four innings. Really, for me, that's unacceptable."

Here's to turning things around starting today.

Pettitte and Derek Jeter were among the players who praised Willie Randolph and hoped he survives the recent firing rumors.

"Obviously, I know him well and I wish him nothing but the best, so you never want to hear somebody might lose their job," Pettitte said yesterday before the Subway Series opener was rained out. "I hope that nothing like that would happen to him or his family."

"It's always tough on the manager. He doesn't pitch. He doesn't hit," Posada said. "The same lineup is going to be put out there by the next manager and every five days it's the same starting pitcher. It's tough to do the job. People take him for granted."

Jeter who has been buds with Randolph for a long time was even more emphatic in his backing of Willie.

"I don't see how people make such a big deal out of teams 40 games into a season. That always baffles me," Jeter said. "It's always baffled me how people write how a team's underachieving and this and that and you have 120 games left in a season. I guess that's my reaction to it. Not just 'cause it's Willie. It's 'cause it's anybody."

Said Jeter, "Willie was fun to be around. He likes to work. He's easy to talk to. He's played here in New York. He's managed in New York. He's coached in New York. He's been in the front office in New York. So he's pretty much been doing everything, so in terms of experience, you really can't get any more experience, especially in New York City, than Willie."

Unfortunately, Randolph has gotten the ill-fated "Vote of Confidence" from GM Omar Minaya.

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Flashback - Subway Series 1997

Major League baseball went to interleague play back in 1997 for the first non-exhibition meeting between the Yankees and Mets. There were only 3 games between the two teams in the interleague inaugural season (we'd love it to go back to that). Lets take a look back at that first series.

Dave Mlicki was the unlikely hero of the first game at Yankee Stadium, June 16, 1997. Mlicki had a journeyman career and was in his 3rd full season in the majors. He would win just 66 games, but none would be bigger than this one against the defending world series champions.

Mlicki scattered 9 hits en route to a complete game shutout as the Mets took the opener 6-0. The Mets jumped right on Yankees starter Andy Pettitte for 3 runs in the 1st inning. It included an unlikely steal of home by Randy Hundley, and RBI hits by John Olerud and Butch Huskey. Olerud drove in 3 runs all told. Joe Girardi had 3 hits for the Yankees.

Starting Lineups:

 New York Mets                 New York Yankees       
1. Johnson             cf        Jeter               ss
2. Gilkey              lf        Kelly               2b
3. Olerud              1b        O'Neill             rf
4. Hundley             c         Fielder             dh
5. Huskey              dh        Martinez            1b
6. Everett             rf        Hayes               3b
7. Baerga              2b        Whiten              lf
8. M. Franco           3b        Curtis              cf
9. Lopez               ss        Girardi             c
 Mlicki              p         Pettitte            p

Game 2 matched unbeated Armando Reynoso against David Wells. The Yankees knocked the 5-0 Reynoso out of the game in the 2nd inning with 4 runs. Joe Girardi's bases loaded single brought home the first run and Derek Jeter followed with a 2-run double. Luis Sojo's double off of Reynoso brought in the final run of the inning and caused the Mets starter to be removed.

The Mets got 3 back quickly against Boomer in the 4th, but he settled down and went 8 innings before giving way to Mariano Rivera, who picked up his 22nd save of the season in a 6-3 Yankees win.

Starting Lineups:

 New York Mets                 New York Yankees       
1. Johnson             cf        Jeter               ss
2. Gilkey              lf        Sojo                2b
3. Olerud              1b        O'Neill             rf
4. Hundley             c         Fielder             dh
5. Huskey              dh        Martinez            1b
6. Everett             rf        Hayes               3b
7. Baerga              2b        Whiten              lf
8. M. Franco           3b        Curtis              cf
9. Lopez               ss        Girardi             c
 Reynoso             p         Wells               p

Rick Reed and David Cone matched up in the Sunday finale. Coney was on his game, allowing just 2 hits while striking out 11 over 8 innings, but his teammates couldn't generate offense. The Yankees had taken a 2-0 lead on solo home runs by Cecil Fielder and Chad Curtis, but the Mets cut the lead in half on an RBI ground out by Olerud in the 7th and tied the game on Cone's balk in the 8th.

The game went to the 10th where Paul O'Neill walked and moved to 3rd on Cecil Fielder's single. Tino Martinez brought home the game winner with a single of his own as Mike Stanton improved to 3-0.

Starting Lineups:

 New York Mets                 New York Yankees       
1. Johnson             cf        Jeter               ss
2. Gilkey              lf        Sojo                2b
3. Olerud              1b        O'Neill             rf
4. Hundley             c         Fielder             dh
5. Baerga              2b        Martinez            1b
6. Huskey              dh        Boggs               3b
7. M. Franco           3b        Whiten              lf
8. Everett             rf        Curtis              cf
9. Lopez               ss        Girardi             c
 Reed                p         Cone                p

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Yankees Taiwan On

Bad puns aside, the Yankees bounced back nicely from Friday night's defeat to win a slugfest on Saturday. Last night was an even more complete game. Pitching, offense, and defense each took their turn in the Yankees 8-2 drubbing of the Mets before a nationally televised audience. The win was the Yankees 11th in their last 12 games, while the Mets have now droppped 7 of 8.

Chien-Ming Wang got the start for the Yankees and was completely dominant. My boy (I'm proud to say I correctly predicted that Wang would have a major impact for the Yankees during spring training in 2005. It's nice to be right now and then.) mixed in his ever more reliable change up with a slider, a great fastball, and his bring-you-to-your-knees hard sinker to strike out a career high 10 batters. And of course he had his ground ball game going as well.

Once The Wanger has the lead he rarely gives it back and Alex Rodriguez gave it to him early last night. Having already allowed a single to Derek Jeter (extending his hitting streak to 12 games), El Duque left a two-out hanger over the plate for A-Rod, who destroys them like a dry cleaners. The blast, his 27th, landed in the back left corners of the visitors bullpen. It was career HR #490 for A-Rod, who has been hitting one tape measure shot after another these days.

The Yankees added two more off of Duque in the 2nd. Miguel Cairo's two-out double to left scored Hideki Matsui, and Cairo came home on Johnny Damon's single. In the 3rd, the Bombers made it 5-0. Bobby Abreu hit a shot into the left field corner that eluded Carlos Gomez for a lead off triple. A-Rod brought him home with a deep sacrifice fly for RBI #73.

Meanwhile, Wang was breezing through the Mets lineup. He didn't allow a hit until Jose Reyes' single in the 4th. But the Yankees quickly erased that one, correctly calling a pitch- Jorge Posada's throw arriving well ahead of a sliding Reyes.

A solo HR by Damon, an Abreu HBP, and a walk to A-Rod finally drove El Duque from the game. An appreciative Yankee Stadium crowd has never forgotten how Orlando Hernandez contributed to 3 World Series championships and gave the fan favorite a nice round of applause.

The Mets finally reached Wang in the 7th when his strike 3 pitch to David Wright bounced well in front of Posada. Instead of the side being retired, Wright reached safely and scored on Carlos Delgado's double to right. With the lead cut to 6-1, Wang retired Jose Valentin on a ground out to quickly snuff out any idea of a rally.

Wang looked even stronger in the 8th, striking out the side. That included a strike 2 swing and miss by Reyes, on a Wang change up, that nearly screwed him into the ground.

The Yankees made sure there would be no doubt about the outcome, when in the 8th A-Rod lined a double to left-center and Posada followed with a line drive home run off of Aaron Heilman into the right field seats. It was Posada's 9th of the season and his 207th as a Yankee.

Wang came within 1 out of a complete game in the 9th before Joe Torre decided that 113 pitches was enough. Ramon Castro doubled and Carlos Beltran singled him home for the Mets 2nd run of the night. But David Wright grounded sharply to A-Rod who started an around the horn double play. That's when Torre opted for Mike Myers. The lefty specialist struck out Delgado looking to end a very enjoyable Sunday night.

~~~

Defense is always an important part of the game, but especially when you have a ground ball pitcher like Wang going. After homering in the 2nd, A-Rod dove to his left on a sharply hit ball by Delgado and threw him out to take away a base hit. In the 6th the Yankees doubled up the lightning fast Reyes as Miguel Cairo turned a sweet 3-6-3 double play, scooping out Jeter's throw as he got back to the 1st Base bag.

Speaking of A-Rod's defense, its been completely overlooked because of the tremendous offensive season he is having. But in case you have noticed, he's been playing an outstanding 3rd Base.

Jeter has gone 19-45 (.422) during his 12 game hitting streak, raising his average from .326 to .342.

Wang is now 6-1 in his last 7 starts with a 2.25 ERA. He's averaged more than 7 innings in those starts.

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Get Out Your Tape Measures

It didn't take Alex Rodriguez long, but the ball sure went a long way. A-Rod pounded an El Duque hanger into corner of the Met's bullpen.

Home run #27 for 2007, #491 for all-time.

Oh, and moments later he robbed Carlos Delgado of a base hit.

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Tonight's Lineups (6/17)

Mets

Reyes SS
Lo Duca C
Beltran CF
Wright 3B
Delgado 1B
Valentin DH
Green RF
Gotay 2B
Gomez LF

Yankees

Damon DH
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Matsui LF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Cairo 1B

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It is High, It is Far, It is Gone

Yanks outslug Mets 11-8

The Yankees were in mid-April form today with poor starting pitching and shaky relief by Mariano Rivera. But the offense, lead by A-Rod slugged through way through to an 11-8 win. Tyler Clippard earned himself a ride by to Scranton with an awful 3 1-3 inning performance. The Mets touched him up for runs in the 1st two innings, Ruben Gotay providing the second with his 3rd home run of the season. The Yankees tied it up in their half of the 2nd, but the Mets got the go ahead run back across home plate in the 3rd, courtesy of the Jose Reyes show.

Reyes drew his 2nd walk of the game and promptly stole 2nd base (his 2nd steak of the day and his 5th steal in 2 days). A Carlos Beltran ground out moved him to 3rd where he proceeded to dance down the line. When Carlos Delgado signaled for time out, Clippard broke from his stretch position and was called for a balk by home plate umpire Bruce Froemming. Jorge Posada and Joe Torre argued, but Froemming had never granted the time out.

The Yankees got Clippard off the hook again in the bottom of the inning when Alex Rodriguez tattooed a Tommy Glavine delivery into the back of the Met's bullpen for a 2-run shot. It was A-Rod's 26th of the season and number 490 for his career.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Clippard threw the lead away immediately. After issuing a 1-out walk to Shawn Green, Clippard served up a gopher ball to Ramon Castro. Castro's 4th of the year put the Mets back in front 5-4. For whatever reason, Torre kept Clippard in the game for one batter. That turned out to be a single for Gotay.

Clippard's removal turned out to out to be the turning point of the game. While Glavine continued to struggle, Luis Vizcaino and Scott Proctor finally stopped the bleeding. Then the Captain stepped up.

Derek Jeter crushed a Glavine pitch and drove into the runway between the left field seats and the bleacher for a 6-5 Yankees lead. It was Jeter's 5th of the season on a day when he would go 4-5 and extend his hitting streak to 11 games. He fell a triple short of hitting for the cyle.

Glavine, who has been stuck on 295 career wins since May 19th (5 starts), exited the game after giving up a lead off double to Posada. Robinson Cano's single off of Scott Schoeneweis brought home Posada, with Cano advancing to 2nd on the play. He would later score on a Miguel Cairo base hit as the Yankees scored 2 runs for the 5th straight inning.

The Mets bullpen finally stopped the Yankees from scoring in the 7th, but Cano doubled in a big insurance run in the 8th off of Aaron Sele for an 11-6 lead. The Yankees would need those runs because Mo was hit like the Mo of April.

Delgado lead off with a ground single through the left side and Paul Lo Duca followed with a rope to right. Green flied out, but Castro singled to left to load the bases. Rivera struck out Gotay looking for the 2nd out of the inning and it appeared he may escape unscathed. But rookie Carlos Gomez ripped one back up the middle that ricocheted off of the closer's ankle for an infield single. A run scored and the bases remained loaded for the hot Reyes.

Rivera got ahead, but Reyes eventually lined a single to center to bring home 2 runs. That brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the person of Beltran. But Mo bounced back, getting the cold centerfielder to pop out in foul territory to Posada for the final out.

It certainly was written up as a game plan, but the Yankees will take the 'W'.

~~~

Clippard was demoted after the game and replaced by outfielder Kevin Thompson. After tomorrow night's game, the Yankees play the next 6 in National League parks so they can use the extra non-pitcher. In 6 starts, Clippard was 3-1, 6.33. He only had 1 effective start after his debut victory against the Mets on May 20th.

Kei Igawa will most likely be recalled to start Friday night in San Francisco. Igawa was 1-1, 2.00 in 2 starts for Tampa, and 2-2, 2.88 in 4 starts for Scranton. More importantly, he has a 27/7 strikeout to walk ratio and has gotten command of his change up.

Jorge Posada has only played 1st Base one time in the last 6 years, but Torre plans on putting him out there a couple of times this week to keep his bat in the lineup while Wil Nieves catches.

The Yankees remain 8.5 back in the east as Boston beat San Fran 1-0. The Yanks do move back to 3.5 out in the wild card after Detroit's loss to Philly, 6-3.

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Reyes Shoots Down the Rocket

Roger Clemens threw a very effective 6 1-3 innings and the Yankee bullpen was solid. But Clemens couldn't get out Jose Reyes and the Yankees offense went into a slumber against Mets starter Oliver Perez (7-5). The outcome was a 2-0 Mets win that snapped their 5 game losing streak and the Yankee's 9 game winning streak. The Yankees also dropped a game in the AL East and the wild card as both the Red Sox and Tigers won.

Tonight's game was the Jose Reyes show. Reyes was 3-3 with a pair of singles, an upper deck home run, 3 stolen bases, a walk, and drove in both Mets runs. He showed why is he is so dangerous once he reaches base.

Carlos Gomez also showed a lot of speed and he ignited the Met's first run in the 3rd inning. Clemens (1-1) had escaped a two-on, no out jam in the 1st, but when Gomez bunted his way on and stole 2nd, the Rocket had to face Reyes again. Having already singled in the 1st, Reyes took a pitch back up the middle for an RBI and a 1-0 lead.

The Yankees had early chances against Perez, but couldn't capitalize. Derek Jeter singled in the 1st and advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch, but Perez struck out Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees loaded the bases with two down in the 2nd, but Melky Cabrera flied out.

Abreu was stranded at 2nd in the 3rd, but the Yankees came right back again against Perez in the 4th. Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano drew back-to-back walks, but free swinging Josh Phelps chased some bad pitches and flew to right. Miguel Cairo also became the hero when he drove one to deep left, but a leaping Gomez took away, at the very least, an extra base hit, and doubled off Matsui who apparently had a brain cramp.

In the 5th Reyes struck again and struck hard, hitting a Clemens offering off the facing of the upper deck in right. It was Reyes' 3rd HR of the season and 30th RBI. Clemens started the 7th by retiring Julio Franco, who is actually older than the Rocket, but he was pulled after Gomez's 2nd bunt single of the game. Luis Vizcaino, Mike Myers, and Brian Bruney combined for 2 2-3 scoreless innings, but the Yankees still couldn't push a run across.

Perez, who got the Yankees to swing at bad pitches all night, was finally knocked from the game with one out in the 8th when Derek Jeter doubled to right. But Pedro Feliciano retired Abreu on a deep drive to center, and Joe Smith got A-Rod to ground out sharply to 3rd. Billy Wagner came on and breezed through the 9th, striking out a pair for his 15th save.

~~~

David Wright extended his hitting streak to 16 games, while Abreu's streak ended at 13. Derek Jeter has hit in 10 straight, the 3rd time this season he has reached double figures.

Clemens' final line - 6.1 IP 7 H 2 ER 1 BB 8 K

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Tonight's Lineups (6/15)

Oliver Perez vs. Roger Clemens

Mets

Reyes SS
Beltran CF
Wright 3B
Delgado DH
LoDuca C
Green RF
Valentin 2B
Franco 1B
Gomez LF

Yankees

Damon DH
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Matsui LF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Cairo 1B

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All Aboard

Subway Series Part Deux

Things have changed quite a bit since the Mets spanked the Yankees 2 of 3 back in May. The Bronx Bombers have won 9 straight, while their crosstown rivals have dropped 9 of 10. The Yankees were in the midst of a pathetic slide that would lead to them being 14.5 games behind Boston in mid May. Meanwhile the Mets were kicking the NL's ass.

After salvaging the final game of the series, the Yankees left Shea 19-23. The 1st place Mets were flying high at 28-15. Oh how the worm has turned since then. First the Yankees would drop 8 of 13 before this current streak got them two 2 games above .500 for the first time since A-Rod's walk 0ff against Cleveland on April 19. They then lost 7 straight.

The Mets went 5-2 after meeting the Yanks at Shea, and were sitting atop the NL East at 33-17. Then injury and poor performance caught up with them. They've gone 3-11 since May 29, and are now 36-28. Just 3 games better than the Yankees.

Pitching Probables for the weekend

Friday - Oliver Perez vs. Roger Clemens. How odd will this look with no Mike Piazza?

Saturday - Tom Glavine vs. Tyler Clippard. 296 career wins vs. 3. If Clippard doesn't perform well he could be headed back to Scranton.

Sunday - El Duque vs. Chien-Ming Wang. It's hard to watch El Duque pitching for another team, let alone the Mets. And against the Yankees to boot. But my boy The Wanger is the pride and joy of Taiwan (Great article in today's Star-Ledger on Wang's hero status back home.).

Injuries

The last time these two teams met, Darrell Rasner was lost in the 1st inning with a busted finger. Since then the Yankees have lost Jason Giambi and Doug Mientkiewicz (joining Carl Pavano, Jeff Karstens, Phil Hughes for lengthy periods with serious injuries.

A week before the 1st installment of the subway series, the Mets lost Moises Alou to a strained quad. He's still not back. Arguably, an even bigger blow was the loss of spark plug Endy Chavez to a strained Hamstring. Chavez is the type of player that ignites a team with his hustle and defensive presence. Shawn Green also missed extensive time with a broken foot.

Hot Streak and Slumps

The Yankees, as a whole, stunk in April, with only A-Rod hitting. Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada had the only active bats in May. But things have changed drastically in June. A-Rod has gotten his stroke back, tearing up pitchers at an alarming rate.

Hideki Matsui has the best batting average of any player (min. 200 at-bats) in interleague playing, and he just destroyed the Dbacks. And Bobby Abreu who couldn't hit little league pitching for the first two months of the season, has a 14 game hitting streak (.440 average) and is wearing out pitchers again with his patient approach.

Carlos Delgado has been having an awful season for the Mets. It was covered up by the fact that the team was winning. While his 10 HR and 39 RBI are decent, his .224 batting average is far from it. This is a guy who is a .280 career hitter. Delgado appeared to wake up in June, hitting .273-6-20, but his troubles have returned in June.

Carlos Beltran may hear boo birds again soon. He's hit just .211 since April 30, with only 3 HRs.

The Yankees need to now take 2 of 3 as the Mets did back in May.

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