8/9/12 Recap

       Last night, the Mets and Chris Young looked to take a game from the Marlins while Gary, Keith and Ron and the rest of the SNY crew were doing the game up in Citi Field's Pepsi Porch. With 2 out and nobody on in the top of the first, former Met Jose Reyes hit one right by the SNY booth in right field to extend his hit streak to 26 games and make the score 1-0 Fish. Later in the inning, there was 1 on for the newest and youngest Met killer, Giancarlo Stanton, and he did what he does best: hit a bomb into the Party City Deck, his first homer since his injury to make the score 3-0 Miami. This was the score until the top of the fifth on a 2-run single by Carlos Lee and another 2-run blast for Stanton made it 7-0 Marlins, and the Fish would never look back as they took the win 13-0. Reyes's 26-game hit streak is the longest streak for a reigning batting champion since Yankee great Joe DiMaggio hit in 56 straight games in 1941.
       Speaking of the Yankees, their fans were in for a good one when they tuned in to their matchup against Detroit last night as CC Sabathia went up against former Marlin Anibal Sanchez, who since coming to Detroit is yet to win a decision. However, the pitching was not the main part of the matchup as this one was a slugfest! New York got off to a quick start in the 1st with an RBI single by Eric Chavez that scored Swisher and a single by Curtis Granderson that scored Teixeira and made the score 2-0 Yanks. In the top of the third, Granderson reached the 4 RBI mark with a 3-run shot that made the score 5-0 Yankees. However, Detroit would not go down easy, making the score 8-7 in the 7th, knocking Sabathia out of the game. The Yankees countered with 2 in the top of the eighth to put it away as the Bombers took the win 12-8.

8/6/12 Recap & Apologies

       First of all, I would like to say that I'm sorry to all of my readers for not doing my daily post over the past few days, for I was on vacation and had no device or computer to blog on. Now, on to last night's recap.
       Last night, the Yankees flew to Detroit and took on "Big Bad" Justin Verlander and the Tigers. In the bottom of the second, Prince Fielder hit a big fly on a liner to center, and it was 1-0 Big Cats. 2 innings later, Miguel Cabrera hit a 450-foot bomb into center to make it 2-0 Tigers. In the top of the fifth, RBI singles by Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano tied the game at 2. After that, the Tigers never looked back scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles by former Marlin Omar Infante and Austin Jackson and a sac fly by Andy Dirks made it 5-2 Detroit, and they would go on to win 7-2. Tigers starter Justin Verlander had 14 strikeouts and got his first win in his last 5 starts against New York.
       The Mets had the day off, but today, they look to jump back into the race as they begin a 3-game set Reyes and the new-look Miami Marlins to begin a 6-game home stand at Citi Field.

Harvey struggles

Matt Harvey didn't pitch as well as he did in his 1st 2 MLB starts, but he did impress. He gave up 5 runs in 5 innings, but it could've been much worse. He was able to limit the damage very well, and showed once again why he is a star in the making. I love watching this kid and can't wait for Wheeler either. They are both going to be very good pitchers for the Mets for a long time. The future looks bright for the Mets rotation.

8/2/12 Recap

       Yesterday afternoon, the Mets looked to take their 3rd from the Giants in the finale of their 4-game series against Barry Zito. Zito retired the first two batters, but after 2 straight walks by David Wright and Scott Hairston and Daniel Murphy was hit by a pitch, Jason Bay hit a soft single into left that brought home 2 runs, and the Mets were on the board early. The next batter was Ronny Cedeno, and he doubled off the glove of Melky Cabrera and brought home another 2 runs, and after the first it was 4-0 New York. In the 2nd, David Wright hit an RBI single that scored Andres Torres and made it a 5-run margin. The Giants' only run came in the bottom of the fourth when Hunter Pence recorded his first RBI as a Giant with a sac fly that brought home Melky Cabrera and make it a 5-1 game. In the top of the fifth, Daniel Murphy brought home Torres with a single into right, and Ronny Cedeno singled home Hairston, and it was 7-1 Metropolitans. In the top of the seventh, Ronny Cedeno doubled to left that scored Hairston and Murphy. It was Cedeno's 4th and 5th RBIs of the day tying a career high as the Mets took the victory 9-1. Mets starter Chris Young snapped a 5-start losing streak, going 7 innings allowing only 1 run.

8/1/12 Recap

       Yesterday afternoon, the Yankees and newest acquisition Casey McGhee looked to avoid a sweep of Baltimore at the Stadium. In the bottom of the first, New York got off to a quick start on a solo shot by Curtis Granderson (his 29th of the year) and a sacrifice fly by Andruw Jones made the score 2-0 early. However, the O's got a run back in the 2nd on an RBI groundout by former Met Endy Chavez which made it 2-1. In the bottom of the inning, 2 singles by Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher brought home another 2 runs as it was now 4-1 Yankees. In the bottom of the 3rd, Jayson Nix hit an RBI ground-rule double an 2-run single by Derek Jeter and a grand slam by Robby Cano brought home 7 in the inning as the score became 11-1, and the final score was 12-3. Joba Chamberlain made his first appearance since last June and allowed 2 runs in an inning an 2/3 of work.
       The Mets looked to take another game from the Giants in a crazy game in San Francisco. Ruben Tejada lead off the game with a solo home run, his first in almost 700 at-bats and the score was 1-0 New York after the 1st. In the top of the 2nd, Jordany Valdespin grounded into a force out that brought home a run to make it 2-0. This was the score until the bottom of the sixth when Buster Posey hit a solo home run that made it a 1-run game. The Metropolitans never trailed, but the left 16 runners on base and had plenty of opportunities to extend their lead, but New York couldn't get that big hit as they had 9 hits, 8 walks, and a hit batsman but only scored 2 runs as they won it by the score of 2-1 "...on a night where they should've scored about 15 runs" as put by SNY announcer Gary Cohen. Mets starter Jonathan Niese went 7 innings and only allowed the 1 run.  

7/31/12 Recap

       Last night, the Yankees seeked revenge after last night's 1-run loss to the Orioles. After a 1st inning by Ivan Nova that took less than a minute, New York scored 5 in the bottom of the first on a Derek Jeter double, a Curtis Granderson RBI single, a Robby Cano 2-run shot, an RBI fielder's choice by Ichiro and an RBI single by Eric Chavez that gave the Yanks a 5-0 lead. However, Baltimore had 2 men out in the top of the second but had an RBI double from Mark Reynolds, a 2-run single by Omar Quintanilla, and Chris Davis's first career grand slam capped off a 7-run inning that officially made the game a slugfest and gave the O's a 2-run lead. Baltimore scored 4 more runs before the game was over and would take the 7-5 win.
       Meanwhile, the Mets looked to extend their winning streak against Tim Lincecum and the Giants. In the 2nd, Justin Turner doubled home Scott Hairston and give New York an early 1-0 lead. However, the Giants got 2 runs back on an RBI fielder's choice by Brandon Crawford and took the lead. In the 6th, Marco Scutaro grounded into a double play that brought home a run and put the game away as the Gigantes took the 4-1 victory. Matt Harvey only allowed 2 earned runs, giving him a Big Leagur ERA of 1.50.

7/30/12 Recap

       Last night, the Yankees and Freddy Garcia opened a 3-game set with Miguel Gonzalez and the Orioles. New York got on the board first as Eric Chavez hit an RBI single that scored Raul Ibanez in the bottom of the second. In the 3rd, Wilson Betemit tied the game with a solo shot for the O's. In the top of the fifth, former Met Omar Quintanilla hit a sacrifice fly that scored Betemit and give Baltimore a 2-1 lead. The next batter was Nick Markakis, and he hit a sac fly that scored Mark Reynolds and make it a 2-run game. In the bottom of the inning, Raul Ibanez got one of those runs back with a solo home run, and it was 3-2. In the top of the 7th, Boone Logan came into replace Freddy Garcia. Logan would face Nick Markakis with a runner on, and he doubled to bring home Quintanilla and would later score on an RBI single by JJ Hardy to make the game 5-2. In the bottom of the 7th, Eric Chavez hit a solo shot, and the next batter, Ichiro, hit his 100th career homer and his first as a Yankee. However, this was not enough as the Orioles took the victory 5-4.
       The Mets were in San Francisco to open a 4-game series with the Giants. There was no score until the bottom of the 3rd when Marco Scutaro hit an RBI single that brought home Brandon Belt and made the score 1-0 Giants. In the 4th, New York got their first lead of the night with a 2-run double by Ronny Cedeno and made the score 2-1 Mets. In the bottom of the fifth, Melky Cabrera hit an RBI single that tied the game. After a fielder's choice and an RBI single, San Francisco scored 2 runs to take a 4-2 lead. In the top of the eighth, Scott Hairston hit a 2-run shot into left to tie the game. Later in the inning, Justin Turner hit an RBI double that scored Jason Bay to give New York the lead. Turner would later come around to score on a Rob Johnson single to make it a 2-run lead. However, in the 9th, the Mets' bullpen blew it again on RBI doubles by Buster Posey and Nate Schierholtz to tie the ballgame once again as this one went to extras. In the top of the 10th, Hairston hit his second homer of the night to make it a 1-run Met lead, and a squeeze play would score Bay to make it 2 runs. New York almost blew it again in the bottom of the inning giving up 1 run and then loading the bases with two out for Brandon Belt. Belt hit one deep to center back on the warning track, but Jordany Valdespin made a nice running catch to end the game as the Mets win 2 straight for the first time since the 1st half.

7/29/12 Recap

       Yesterday, R.A. Dickey took the mound again vying for his 14th victory against the Diamondbacks. In the top of the first, the Mets got off to a quick start as David Wright doubled home Murphy and then came around to score on a Scott Hairston double to give R.A. a 2-0 lead before he ever took the mound. In the 5th, Hairston recorded his 2nd RBI of the day by singling home Wright, and it was 3-0 New York. In the 6th, Daniel Murphy singled, and Andres Torres came around to make it a 4-0 game. Dickey shut out Arizona until the bottom of the sixth when Paul Goldschmidt hit an RBI single that scored Aaron Hill to make it a 3-run affair. In the 8th, Josh Thole hit a soft fly ball into left that scored Torres and make the score 5-1 Mets. Dickey went 7 strong innings, allowing only that 1 run. Bobby Parnell came into close it out in the bottom of ninth successfully as the Mets took the 5-1 win.
       Last night, the Yankees looked to take two out of three from Boston in a Sunday Night Showdown. In the top of the second, Ryan Sweeney knocked home 2 on an RBI double as the Sox took a 2-0 lead they would hold until the bottom of the seventh. In that inning, Russell Martin homered with no one on to make it a 1-run game and lined one up the middle to score Andruw Jones as this one went into extras. In the top of the tenth, Boston manager Bobby Valentine and pitcher Josh Beckett, who didn't even pitch last night, got thrown out arguing a call by the home-plate umpire. However, with a runner on the third in the 10th, Pedro Ciriaco hit a soft single to right that brought home the run and gave Boston a 3-2 extra-inning lead. In the bottom of the inning, Boston still hanging onto that lead, Ramiro Pena pinch ran for Nick Swisher with two out as Raul Ibanez stepped to the plate. On the 9th pitch of the at-bat, Ibanez struck out to end the game. The Red Sox go back to .500 and ready to start a 10-game homestand.

I LIKE IKE!

In what has been a miserable last 16 games for the Mets, losing 14 of those, Ike Davis has been one of the few bright spots for the club in that span. Since the middle of June, Ike has hit 15 of his club-leading 20 homers, which is also his career high. He hit 3 last night, 4 in his last 2 games, and 6 in his last 6. He had 13 total bases in that game last night, the second most ever by a Met. Ike had been having a nightmare season up until mid-June. He was hitting around .160 and had shown very little power. Everyone thought that they should send him down, but the Mets didn't (partially because of his gold glove defense) and that decision has paid off. Ike has caught fire every since then, raising his average to .216 with a very good 60 RBI. When you look at those numbers (20 bombs, 60 RBI) that would be considered a very good year in late July. Ike just needed time to re-adjust. He missed all of the 2011 season after May 10th, when he sustained an ankle injury which cost him the rest of the season after putting together an all star season through 36 games. He was hitting .304 with 7 HR and 25 RBI in those 36 games. When he was called up in 2010, it was clear the Mets had their 1st baseman of the future. In his rookie year of 2010 he hit .264 with 19 HR and 71 RBI, putting him near the top in all of the offensive numbers for rookies that season. Ike is starting play like the Ike we saw last year before the injury. He needed time to adjust back to major league pitching, and it took longer than he and Mets fans would have liked, but it did happen. When he first came up, I thought he had Prince Fielder written all over him, only with better defense. That is why he instantly became my favorite, well he actually became my favorite when he hit .480 in spring training. But right away I knew he was going to be a star! I also liked saying I Like Ike. Ike is again showing why he will be an all-star and a Met for his whole career!

HARVELOUS!

Matt Harvey was amazin' for the Mets in his debut... He was harvelous! He lived up to all the hype and that was just a glimpse of how good this kid is really going to be! He and Zack Wheeler will most likely be career Mets and I sure hope they are. Terry Collins compared his stuff to Justin Verlander and Stephen Strasburg! Those are 2 amazing pitchers. Here's to a long career for Matt Harvey with the Mets. He became the 1st player since 1900 to strike out 10+ and get 2 hits in his MLB debut. Unfortunately, Jon Niese couldn't continue that trend last night as the mets lost their 13th of 15 games. Even though Jon Niese struggled last night, I think he has shown a lot of positive signs this season and developed into one of the more reliable pitchers in the Mets rotation right now. They locked him up at the beginning of the year to a 5-year contract extension worth $25.5 million with team options for 2017 and 2018. They obviously think he is a key pitcher looking toward the future, and I would agree with that 100%. In my opinion, he has one of the best curveballs in all of baseball. The Mets were looking for more consistency out of him this season, and they have gotten that for the most part. I think he will be a good pitcher for them for a long time. 

7/27/12 Recap

       While most of us were watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony, there was baseball going on yesterday. Last night, the Yankees opened up a 3-game set with the Red Sox at The Stadium. With 2 out in the 1st, Dustin Pedroia homered into left field, and it was 1-0 Boston. In the bottom of the inning, New York got back 3 on a fielder's choice ground ball by Mark Teixeira and a 2-run bomb by Raul Ibanez to make it 3-1 Yanks. In the top of the 3rd, Carl Crawford homered to make it a 1-run ballgame at 3-2. Then Teixeira got his 2nd RBI of the night with sacrifice fly to score Derek Jeter, and it was 4-2 Yankees. There were 2 HR's in the fourth by Jarod Saltalamochia and Russel Martin with a 2-run shot to prove this game an early slugfest as New York lead 6-3. This was all the scoring until the bottom of the eighth when Curtis Granderson showed off his power factor, hitting a grand slam to put the game away as the Yankees took the victory 10-3.

       The Mets, on the other hand were in Arizona for their second game against the Diamondbacks. New York scored first on an Ike Davis home run and an Andres Torres RBI single, and it was 2-0 Metropolitans. Then came a dreaded, 6-run bottom of the second for the D'Backs to make it a 6-2 game. The Mets would get 3 back in the very next inning on a David Wright homer, but Arizona prevailed and scored 5 more runs in the game to get the 11-5 victory as the Mets fall back to 4 games under the .500 mark. 

7/26/12 Recap

       Last night, Matt Harvey took a Major League mound for the first time at Chase Field as the Mets played game 1 of their 4-game set in Arizona. The Mets gave him an early lead on an RBI double by Scott Hairston to make the score 2-0 New York. In the bottom of the first, Harvey struck out the first batter he faced and then another for a total of 2 K's. In the top of the second, Harvey got his 1st ML at-bat and hit the 2-strike pitch over the centerfielder, Parra for a double. Matt would later single and finish the night 2 for 2. Piching in the 6th, Harvey got his 10th and 11th strikeout, setting the franchise record for strikeouts in a Major League debut and setting the modern-day record for most K's in a debt while going 2 for 2. The New York bullpen, which is the worst in the Bigs, got the last 9 outs of the game for the victory, a 3-1 win. It was the Mets' first win since the final game in Washington and their 2nd since the All-Star Break.

7/25/12 Recap

       Yesterday, the Mets looked to take at least one game from the Nationals and avoid the sweep as the sent Jeremy Hefner to the mound. There was no score until the top of the second when Michael Moorse and Danny Espinosa went back-to-back on two solo home runs into right field. However, New York cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning as Ike Davis lined one over the right field wall, and it was 2-1 Washington. In the 4th, Danny Espinosa scored on a Sandy Lyon RBI fielder's choice to make it a 2-run game. Then, in the top of the seventh, Bryce Harper reached base, and then Adam LaRoche hit his 2nd homer of the series into the Pepsi Porch in right field, and it was a 4-run lead for the Nats. Nationals pitcher, Stephen Strasburg, was un-hitable, striking out 11 through 7 innings as Washington took the victory 5-2. The Mets fall to 4 games under .500 and are 1-8 after the All-Star break. Tomorrow, Met's No. 2 prospect Matt Harvey will make his long-awaited Majors debut in Arizona.
       Yesterday, the Yankees looked to take the series in Seattle without their 3rd baseman, Alex Rodriguez, who will be out 6-8 weeks with a fractured hand. In the top of the first, Derek Jeter, batting in the 2 spot with Ichiro leading off, hit a solo home run, his eighth of the year, to give New York a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the inning, an RBI walk and a fielder's choice brought in 2 runs to give the Mariners a 1-run lead. This was the score until the bottom of the eighth when the Yankees loaded the bases. Jayson Nix doubled home three runs to give the Yanks a 4-2 lead. A Russel Martin single would bring home another run for the 4th run of the inning as the final score was 5-2 Yankees. New York now has an 8-game lead over Baltimore and Tampa Bay in the American League East.

7/24/12 Recap

       Last night, R.A. Dickey went for his league-leading 14th win of the year against the Nationals. In the bottom of the second, with Scott Hairston on 2nd, Ronny Cedeno singled home the runner, and it was 1-0 New York. Then in the 4th, Danny Espinosa doubled home Ryan Zimmerman to tie the game at 1. Then, it all fell apart for the Mets in the top of the sixth. First, Adam LaRoche hit a 2-run homer to make it 3-1, and then an RBI single to score 1 and a throwing error by Jason Bay scored another, and it was 5-1 Washington. The Mets would score 1 more run on another Jordany Valdespin pinch-hit home run to tie a franchise record for the most in a single season, but that was the final score as the Mets dropped another one 5-2. Dickey suffered just his second loss of the season, and just the first at home.
       The Yankees were looking to clinch their 3-game series over the Mariners with their new acquisition of Ichiro. The game was tied 1-1 after 1 after 2 solo homers by Curtis Granderson and Michael Saunders. Then, two RBI singles in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1 Seattle. After Jeter was hit by a Felix Hernandez pitch in the top of the eighth, Mark Teixeira hit a sacrifice fly to bring him home, and the score was 3-2 Mariners. In the bottom of the eighth, Dustin Ackley hit a soft ground ball to third that brought home the runner to give Seattle a 4-2 lead which was the final score. Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez got the victory, but he he hit three batters. One of them was Alex Rodriguez who was hit in the hands and will be placed on the Disabled List.

Lucas Duda

I'm going to have to put my Duda shirt away for a while, as the Mets sent struggling Lucas duda down to AAA Buffalo today to make room for Matt Harvey. This move was really becoming more and more inevitable by the day. Duda has really been struggling big time and seems like he has lost some confidence.  Over the last month he is hitting .138 with one homerun, and combine that with his below average defense, that's not going to get the job done. Watching him the last few weeks, I started to question whether he was really a part of the future, and the Mets might be too. Of course he might just be going to find his swing, regain some confidence, and catch fire. We should all be wishing Duda nothing but the best in Buffalo... I still want to believe he's a big part of the future here at Citi Field. Great guy, go get 'em, brutha. He's clearly a good kid that works hard, he's just not getting the results. Collins says Duda was disappointed with the demotion but driven to make it back. Of course, there's also a possibility that the Mets no longer believe he is part of the future. They have a crowded outfield and lots of them are young and they need to decide which ones are long term options. There's guys like Valdespin, Nieuwenhuis, Baxter who's injured, Den Dekker who is in AAA, so they need to decide which ones will be here long term. The Tampa Bay Rays have always liked Duda, and while I do think Duda is part of the future for the Mets, I wouldn't be too shocked to see Duda moved to Tampa Bay at some point, as he could play his natural position of first base and DH there. They also sent down Pedro beato and recalled Manny Acosta.

7/23/12 Recap

       Last night, the Nationals came into Queens to play the first the three against the Mets. In the top of the first, Bryce Harper went deep with a man on in his first at-bat in New York, and it was 2-0 Washington. This was the score until the bottom of the fourth with nobody on for David Wright who hit one into the Party City Deck in left-center to make it 2-1. In the 7th, Ike Davis hit one right down the right field line that hit the screen on the foul pole for a solo homer, and the game was tied at 2, and for the second time in 2 nights, the Mets headed for extra innings. In the 10th, with one on and nobody out for the Nats, a ball was hit right back to pitcher Tim Byrdak. He turned to second trying to turn 2, but when Ruben Tejada was catching Byrdak's throw, Steve Lombardozi slid right into Tejada's shin, which took him out. Tejada was okay, but there was then 2 on and none out. Two batters later, Bryce Harper came up and hit an RBI single to make it 3-2 Washington with Harper's 3rd RBI of the night. After a Ryan Zimmerman double and then a Michael Moorse homer made it 8-2 which was the final score. The Mets are now 2 games under .500.

       Last night in Seattle might've been the most awkward night in Seattle Mariners history as Ichiro played his first game as a Yankee, batting 8th and playing right field, which was in Seattle. He became just the 10th ever Japanese-born Yankee. In the third, wearing #31, Ichiro came up and got a standing ovation from his former fan base and then singled up the middle and stole a base, but he was stranded at 3rd base. With the score 1-0 Mariners in the top of the fourth, Mark Teixeira hit an RBI double, and both Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones hit RBI singles to make it 3-1 New York. In the 8th, Alex Rodriguez hit a solo bomb to center field, and it was 4-1. In the 9th, former Mariner Rafael Soriano came on to get the save, and with former Yankee Jesus Montero batting, he flew out to former Mariner Ichiro, and 4-1 was the final score. The newest Yankee was 1 for 4 with a stolen base in his New York debut.

"WHOA! Talk About BLOCKBUSTER!!!"

       Today was one of the most interesting days in recent NY Sports history as there were 2 huge trade that may help bring in 2 more championships to the Big Apple. First, Ichiro's days as a Seattle Mariner are over as M's acquired 2 prospects from the Yankees for right fielder Ichiro Suzuki as the trade deadline comes closer. The 2 prospects that Seattle got were right-handed pitchers D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar. For Ichiro, however, will have to part with the only team he's known since coming from Japan in 2001, and he'll have to face them tonight as, ironically, the Yanks try to end their 4-game skid tonight in Seattle.
       The other huge trade has been one long awaited. Today, the New York Rangers have officially traded forwards Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Aninsimov, and defenseman Tim Erixon plus a 2013 first-round draft pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward Rick Nash and a third-round pick. New York GM Glen Sather, who made some very important trades to help the Rangers win the Stanley Cup in 1994, was quoted saying "We're very happy to have a 5-time All-Star on our team and a 40-goal scorer and a guy that's only 28-years old." For the Rangers, it came at a hefty price, but it most certainly seems to be the right deal that could be seen by the small amount of goals the Rangers scored during the playoffs last year. This is exactly what the Blueshirts need.
       In Mets news, it's been announced that Matt Harvey will make his long-awaited ML debut on Thursday in Arizona in place of Johan Santana, who's on the DL. Harvey's been shaking in his last three starts, but he is the Mets' #2 prospect.

Rick Nash

Although I'm a diehard Devils fan, always have been and always will be, I do root for the Rangers because they're everyone in my family's favorite team besides me. Whenever their game doesn't impact the Devs, I root for them. This Nash trade was brilliant! They will win the East, as much as I would love for the Devs to repeat. The Rangers are now, in my opinion, favorites to win the Cup. They got Nash for the perfect trade for New York. They only gave up Anisimov, Dubisnky, Erixon (who's a prospect), and a 1st rounder. What a bargain for the Rangers! They were able to keep their main young guys like Stepan, Hagelin, Kreider, Del Zotto, and McDonagh. Adding a guy like Nash, who is a 5-time all star, makes them the most talented team in the NHL. Adding Nash to a team that already has guys like Gaborik, Richards, Callahan, and all the young guys I mentioned before makes them Cup favorites. They also have the best goalie in the world, yes better than Quick, in Henrik Lundqvist. There's not a team out there that is better on paper than the Rangers. But still, LETS GO DEVILS!

7/22/12 Recap

       Yesterday afternoon, the Mets looked to avoid the sweep against the LA Dodgers, but the real excitement didn't come until the bottom of the ninth. With a runner on 3rd and 1 out, Ike Davis came through with an RBI groundout to tie the game. There was no scoring until the top of the twelfth, with the bases loaded and two men out, Matt Treanor singled up the middle to bring home 2 runs to give the Dodgers a lead they would hold on to as they would score 3 more runs and take the victory 8-3. New York falls to under .500 for the first time since the 162nd game of last season with a victory over the Reds. However, Atlanta got murdered by the Nationals yesterday, so the Mets remain only 5 games back of the 2nd Wild Card.
       The Yankees yesterday were also looking to avoid a sweep against the "Moneyball 2" Oakland A's. There was no scoring until the top of the third when Mark Teixeira singled home Dewayne Wise, and the next batter Alex Rodriguez doubled in Chris Stewart and Curtis Granderson, and it was quickly 3-0 New York. Then in the top of the fourth, Granderson scored his 2nd run of the game with one swing, a solo shot into right to give the Yanks a 4-0 lead. Both Brandon Inge and Kurt Suzuki sit solo homers for the A's in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Yankee lead in half. The score became 4-3 in the sixth when Yoenis Cespedes scored on an Inge groundout. This was all until the bottom of the ninth when Seth Smith hit a solo shot to tie the game, and this game was going to extras as well. Then in the bottom of the twelfth, with Derek Norris on 2nd, Coco Crisp singled into right to bring home Norris, and the A's swept the New York Yankees. New York's AL East division lead is now down to 6 games with a Baltimore victory yesterday, and the surprisingly competitive Oakland Athletics are now in a tie with the Baltimore Orioles for the AL's 2nd Wild Card.

What is happening in Oakland?

The Oakland A's are having a magical year. Even though I'm a Mets fan, everyone should root for this team! The teams I root for are the Rays, Rangers, Orioles, and A's. I have always loved the Rays since their magical year in 08 when I came to love Evan Longoria. I love the Rangers because of Hamilton and I love the O's because they have the best logo in baseball. Then there's the swinging A's. I've always had a soft spot for the A's. They're a lot like the Rays without the recent success. They both somehow succeed with low payrolls. The A's are having a magical season this year. They are currently tied with the Angels and if LA loses tonight to Texas, Oakland will go ahead of them in the AL wild card chase. Oakland, LA and Baltimore are currently tied for the AL wild card lead with identical records. Of course, the MLB expanded the wild card to 2 teams this year. They are having an amazing season after trading 3 of their best players from last season: Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Andrew Bailey. 2 guys that they got in those trades, Josh Reddick and Tom Milone are 2 reasons why they've had such a good year thus far. Those guys along with others like Jemile Weeks, Coco Crisp, Yoenis Cespedes and mid-season pickup Brandon Inge have made for a season worthy of a Moneyball sequel. Also, Bailey's replacement Ryan Cook has had an unbelievable rookie season, earning him a spot on the all star team as the A's only representative, although Reddick was snubbed in not getting chosen. None of the players on this team are paid a whole lot of money, but still, just like in 2002, Billy Beane has put together another A's team using his own crazy yet brilliant strategies that might be able to lead the A's back to the playoffs. This team's payroll is only 55,372,500. That's microscopic! The Yankees' payroll is $197,962,289! Now i just wish they could get a new stadium so that their fans could come and witness this team make a magical push for October. They already have 11 walkoffs this season which leads the MLB, including 1 today against the best team in baseball, the Yankees. Today's win was the 4th win of a 4 game sweep against New York. Only 1 question can be asked: What is happening in Oakland?