Courtesy of repicematcher.com

Man, oh man.

This game had the potential to be one of those ‘break your remotes out of frustration’ games until the seventh inning when thanks to home runs by Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez, the Yankees stole what seemed like a sure victory out of the Mets’ grasp.

Ivan Nova wasn’t bad, his defense failed him on a couple of occasions and he ended up leaving after 5.2 innings. He gave up two earned runs – three runs total – on five hits, walked three and struck out seven.

The top of the seventh started innocently with a walk to Mark Teixeira which was followed by a Nick Swisher double – hit # 1,000 of his career – which moved Teixeira to third.

Most Yankee fans were wondering just how the offense was going to screw up with two on and no outs, especially with the runners on second and third. That particular situation seems to be the one they have the most trouble with.

Well, Raul Ibanez didn’t give us enough to time to think of any horrifying scenarios because he hit the first pitch he saw from Chris Young out of the park.

The game was tied and the Yankees had new life.

After Jon Rauch and his scary neck tattoo, replaced Young, he struck out Russell Martin for the first out. Eric Chavez was brought in to pinch hit for Clay Rapada and hit an 0-2 pitch into the left field seats giving the Yankees and Rapada the lead.

Rapada pitched a third of an inning and he earned the win. I love baseball.

The Yankee bullpen pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings and recorded eight strikeouts. Boone Logan had two huge strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh – both Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy went down swinging. David Robertson did his usual Houdini act in the bottom of the eighth. It started off well with him striking out Scott Hariston but then he walked Omar Quintanilla and Josh Thole.

Terry Collins inserted Justin Turner to pinch hit for Tim Brydak who pitched the top of the eighth and Robertson struck him out, then struck out Kirk Nieuwenhuis swinging.

No harm, no foul.

In the bottom of the ninth, Rafael Soriano came in and struck out Jordany Valdespin to start the inning, gave up a single to David Wright, struck out Duda swinging and got Murphy to fly out to Swisher to end the game. It was Soriano’s 14th save of the year.

After it was all said and done, Clay Rapada picked up the win and the Yankees snapped a three-game losing streak. They also won the season series against the Mets.

At the time of this entry, we’re under 24 hours away from tomorrow night’s much anticipated matchup between R.A. Dickey who hasn’t lost a game since Burger King was a Prince – or so it seems – and CC Sabathia who is looking to shut the doubters up and show that he is still worthy of the title of ace. Why do I have this weird feeling that it’s not going to live up to expectations? Probably because match ups like that rarely ever do.

Don’t forget that tomorrow’s game is an ESPN Sunday Night Game. Also, don’t forget to mentally prepare yourselves for it. One last thing, nap during the afternoon since you never know how late it will end.

Courtesy of myessentia.com

As everyone knows, round two of the Subway Series begins tonight in Queens at Citifield and thanks to some comments by members of the Mets team and organization, it’s shaping up to be a highly anticipated matchup.

Or something.

I am not a fan of trash talking until a series is finished. I didn’t say anything disparaging against the Mets or their fans until after the Yankees completed the sweep. And it wasn’t really trash talking per se, it was more like truth telling. The Yankees swept the series and sent the Mets packing. Right?

When I woke up this morning, I looked at my phone, hit my Tweetcaster icon and logged into Twitter, like I do every day. The first thing I saw was a tweet about Frank Francisco, the Mets closer who stated he couldn’t wait to strike out the side against those chickens.

Chickens? Wait, what?

The full quote as told to the New York Post was:  “I can’t wait to face those chickens. I want to strike out the side against them. I’ve done it before.”

He then quickly said, “I’ve said too much already.”

To his credit, Francisco did strike out the side against the Yankees, in 2004.

Between this and Terry Collins complaining about the short porch in Yankee Stadium, I’m really tempted to lift my pre-game ban on trash talking. But I won’t.

I will just hope that my team comes to play this weekend and puts the team in Queens in their rightful place, the loss column.

Game One of the overhyped Subway Series goes to the Yankees 9-1

Last Friday night, Johan Santana pitched the first no hitter in Mets’ history. Tonight, he was only able to hold the Yankees hitless through the first inning. Alex Rodriguez led off the second inning with a walk which was quickly followed by a Robinson Cano home run.

Santana didn’t fare much better in the third inning when he gave up back to back to back home runs to Cano, Nick Swisher and Andruw Jones. With those two home runs, Cano became the first left-handed hitter to hit two home runs in same game vs Santana. This is also marked the first time since last August 28 that the Yankees went back to back to back. Amazingly, it was the same three batters who hit them in the same order against Baltimore.

Hiroki Kuroda earned his fifth win of the season with a seven inning, one hit, seven strikeout performance. Kuroda, Cody Eppley and newcomer Ryota Igarashi combined to hold the Mets to two hits. Lucas Duda hit an RBI double in the top of the ninth off Igarashi to end the shutout.

Tonight’s victory marked the Yankees’ 50th against the Mets since interleague began back in 1997. The teams have played 85 times. The Yanks have won 11 of their last 15 games.

One negative from the game was that Kuroda was hit in the foot with a comebacker by Daniel Murphy for the third out of the seventh inning. He left the clubhouse after the game on crutches with a bandage on his foot.

I’m back / back in a New York groove

Kelly Lake at The Curious Case of Sidd Finch on the Aerys Sports network and I take a look at some of our favorite Subway Series moments. You can see hers here.

The best moment I can remember is the 2009 Subway Series. The setup, the closeout — just an epic story.

Fast-backward to June 12. The first Subway Series game at the new Yankee Stadium.

The night looked to be just about over for the Yankees as David Wright put the Mets up, 8-7, in the top of the ninth with a big double off Mariano Rivera. With two outs in the bottom of the frame, it looked to be just about over as Alex Rodriguez popped it up toward the second baseman Luis Castillo.

As I prepared for another loss, suddenly I heard Michael Kay’s voice.

HE DROPPED THE BALL! CASTILLO DROPPED THE BALL!

My mother said she was just turning off the television when A-Rod popped up, and as the HD screen went away, she could hear Kay’s voice as the screen went dark.

Commence hurrying to turn the TV back on.

Derek Jeter scored from second to tie the game up, and Mark Teixeira scored from first to give the Yankees the wild 9-8 victory over Francisco Rodriguez (then 1-1).

A-Rod was just 1 for 17 (career!) against K-Rod.

Said Jeter to reporters post-game:

“Of course, we feel like we just stole one. We were lucky. That’s just the bottom line.”

Perhaps the worst of the Subway Series, though, and I’m sure most fans will disagree, was the tension that erupted between Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza, starting in the 2000 series.

» Continue reading “Remember When: Subway Series Moments”

The subways are steamin’ / and the skin on the streets is a-gleamin’ with sweat

Fifteen years ago, as an 8 year old, I had to decide who I was. In fact, at that time, everyone had to choose. You had to know, you had to identify yourself, and you had to accept the consequences of your firm decision.

Well, are you a Mets fan, or a Yankees fan?

After some deliberation, some research, and a quick look at my family history — Yankees fans all of them, except one Brooklyn Dodgers fan who could never quite give up the habit — I decided pinstripes were for me.

Now, the Yankees and Mets meet for their 15th Subway Series, and each team finds itself in interesting spots.

» Continue reading “Outlook: Subway Series 2011″