Mets 4 Florida 1: Oliver Perez kept the Marlins off-balance enough to get a win Tuesday. Perez got out of trouble when it mattered and lasted six innings while allowing eight base runners and only one run. The Mets jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, but would have had more without some overly aggressive base running from Jose Reyes. Carlos Delgado had the big hit, a two-run homer in the eighth, in......

It’s time for the Mets to go shopping and Omar Minaya needs to find a bat to bolster the lineup. With the Mets in first place and finally living up to their potential, their GM needs to patch the biggest remaining hole in the team and a corner outfielder would do that. Some will suggest that the Mets sit back and wait for Ryan Church to heal, but that ignores two facts. The first is......

Yankees 5 Minnesota 1: New York completed the sweep thanks to another great start from Mike Mussina. Mussina won his 13th game of the year by pitching eight innings while allowing only six base runners and zero runs. He also struck out seven batters. With probably 12 more starts left this season, Mussina has a shot at winning 20 games for the first time in his career. Robinson Cano continued his torrid hitting with a......

Phillies 8, Mets 6: Johan Santana threw eight innings of two-run ball and then turned the game over to the bullpen with a 5-2 lead. No problem, right? Not quite. Duaner Sanchez, Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano gave up six runs -- the first five of which came before anyone got an out -- and the Mets choked away the opener of a three-game set that will decide first place, at least for the time......

Photo of (left to right) Alex Rodriguez (AP/Kathy Willens), Derek Jeter (AP/Kathy Willens), Mariano Rivera (AP/Julie Jacobson) and Billy Wagner (AP/Tom Mihalek) With the Mets and Yankees putting forth middling seasons, that only four players total got selected to the July 14 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium should come as no surprise. Billy Wagner is the lone Mets representative (full NL roster), though he had an interesting way of celebrating. For the Yankees, Derek......

Yankees 2, Red Sox 1: Classic games between these teams usually take four hours -- or four hours, 45 minutes -- not 2:58. The Yankees will take this. Mike Mussina spun six scoreless innings before Mariano Rivera wriggled off the hook in the ninth inning. The win came on the heels of two straight losses to open this four-game set. Mussina, whose unexpected successs (11 wins, 3.64 ERA) probably deserves to be on the All-Star......

According to sources on the Mets' flight to St. Louis, shortstop Jose Reyes confronted beloved former player Keith Hernandez over remarks Hernandez made on SNY about Reyes. Last Sunday, Hernandez criticized Reyes throwing his glove after committing an error during the Yankees-Mets game (which the Mets eventually won) saying Reyes had to "get over that. Enough babying going on now. He's a grown man. He's been around a long enough time. Take off the kid......

Photograph of Carlos Delgado leaping for an errant throw from David Wright and trying to tag Alex Rodriguez out (but A-Rod was ruled safe) by Julie Jacobson/AP Yankees 3, Mets 2: Andy Pettitte pitched through a rain delay, and Johan Santana couldn't pitch through another meager output from the Mets bats. Pettitte came out after a 53-minute rain delay and gave up a solo homer to David Wright. But that only made the game......

Photograph of David Wright being congratulated by third base coach Luis Aguayo after his solo home run by Julie Jacobson/AP Mets 8 Seattle 2: New York came out angry and scored early as they romped to a sweep-avoiding victory. Maybe it was Jerry Manuel’s decision to change the team's warmup routine, maybe it was the thought of being swept by the worst team in the American League. Whatever the reason, the Mets showed some......

Photograph of Carlos Beltran sliding into home--and Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez--by Seth Wenig/AP It seemed like such an innocent play at the time. Willie Blumquist grounded to third for what should have been an easy out, but David Wright bobbled the ball and the bases were loaded. But, the pitcher was due up and pitchers can’t hit, especially American League ones, right? Wrong, Felix Hernandez became the first AL pitcher in 37 years to......

Some say that Jerry Manuel and Willie Randolph are too similar, but somehow we can't envision Randolph, the former Mets manager saying what Manuel did on Tuesday night, even jokingly. When Jose Reyes was removed from the game after he experienced tightness in his hamstring, he had a helmet throwing-hissy-fit. Reyes later apologized to Manuel, but the new manager cracked to Reyes:"I told him next time he does that I'm going to get my blade......

Photograph of Alex Rodriguez celebrating with third base coach Bobby Meacham after A-Rod hit a third-inning home run by Frank Franklin II/AP Yankees 8 Padres 5: Is it a coincidence that the Yankees have gone 19-9 since A-Rod returned to the lineup? You certainly have to give Posada some credit too, but the lineup is scoring again and the Yankees have been able to overcome some rough pitching, especially from their bullpen. Wednesday night......

Yankees 8, Padres 0: One day after getting devastating news about Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees pounded the Padres to continue their domination of the Pacific Coast National League. Andy Pettitte, who put forth a second straight dominant outing got plenty of help, including two homers from Jason Giambi and a bomb to center field from Alex Rodriguez. A few words on Giambi, who was written off for dead: He has unbelievable numbers since May 1.......

The rumors swirled viciously before the game. Willie Randolph was safe for at least the week, but some of his coaches would be fired shortly. Randolph and some of the coaches were about to be axed. There were even erroneous reports that Rick Peterson had been fired. The Mets scored two quick runs in the first thanks to a Jose Reyes walk and a Carlos Beltran homer and made it 4-1 after 2. But, the......

Yankees 5 Toronto 1: Derek Jeter got his 2,416th hit, a RBI-single that put the Yankees ahead 1-0 and moved Jeter past Mickey Mantle on the all-time team hit list. It was Jeter’s only hit of the night, but the Yankees had plenty of offense. Johnny Damon had three hits and a RBI, Wilson Betemit had a home run and Jose Molina even chipped in with two hits....

Dodgers 9, Mets 5: A missed call at first base started the Dodgers' eighth-inning rally, but the Mets hardly helped themselves. Pedro Feliciano induced what should have been a groundout by Juan Pierre to start the frame. But he was called safe even though Jose Reyes appeared to throw him out. Aaron Heilman, coming off his best outing of the year, proceeded to give up a double and three straight singles before being relieved and......

Marlins 7, Mets 3: Jose Reyes was the center of attention from the start. His two-out error opened the door for a two-run Marlins first inning. Then he led off the bottom of the inning with a homer and hit another one with two out in the second. That was the last offense to speak of for the Mets. They had their last 15 batters retired by Marlins pitching as they went down meekly on......

Mets 11, Yankees 2: The Mets entered the weekend with a lot of questions about Willie Randolph’s future, but after a two-game sweep of the Yankees, it’s Joe Girardi who should be looking over his shoulder. The Mets crushed the Yankees Sunday night; with Oliver Perez allowing only three hits and two runs over 7.2 innings of work and the Mets bullpen didn’t allow a baserunner over the final 1.1 innings. The Mets got home......

Photograph of Mets catcher Brian Schneider tagging out the Yankees' Johnny Damon at the plate during the third inning by Julie Jacobson/AP (Damon tried to score from first base on a double by Bobby Abreu. ) Mets 7, Yankees 4: With ace Johan Santana on the mound, the Mets had to have this game. They got it. Santana shook off three Yankees home runs -- and got some help by the Yankees' questionable baserunning --......

Washington 1 Mets 0: Where was Jose Reyes going? Down 1-0 in the 8th, Reyes led off the inning with a single. The Mets played for the tie by sacrificing him over to second and it worked, but for some reason Reyes tried to get to third. With his speed and the middle of the order coming up, it was a stupid risk and Reyes was thrown out. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only baserunning gaffe......

Mets 12 Los Angeles 1: The Mets ended their trip out West with a laugher. John Maine almost went the distance before tiring in the ninth, but he allowed only four hits and one run during the game. Maine also helped himself with the bat, driving in two runs and New York pounded out 13 hits overall. Every starter except for Jose Reyes had at least a hit and Ryan Church had a 3-for-4 game......

Photographs of Chien-Ming Wang (left) and Melky Cabrera (right) by Julie Jacobson/AP Yankees 5, Mariners 1: Things Chien-Ming Wang does that other pitchers don't. Throw strikes (two walks Friday), stay in the game (he thew six innings), keep the ball in the ballpark (only one homer allowed this year) and helps his team win games. Wang is 6-0 and his team is 7-0 in games he has started this season. Friday's effort was vintage......

Pirates 13, Mets 1: Oliver Perez didn't get help from his defense, but he didn't help himself. The inconsistent lefty was hurt by a Luis Castillo error and Jose Reyes' failure to cover second base in a rundown in the second, but he was probably hurt more by issuing as many walks -- five -- as he got outs. Perez allowed seven runs in 1 2/3 innings as his Mets split a rain-shortened two-game series......

Photograph of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist stopping a shot from Penguins player Sidney Crosby by Keith Srakocic/AP Penguins 5, Rangers 4: Martin Straka, Chris Drury and everyone's darling, Sean Avery, had the Rangers feeling good about themselves three minutes, 37 seconds into the second period. Game over? Not quite. Pittsburgh scored twice in 14 seconds near the eight-minute mark. Then they scored twice in a 20-second span five minutes into the third. Scott Gomez......

Cubs 7, Mets 1: After losing to the Phillies on Sunday and getting in to Chicago at 3:30 a.m. local time Monday, the Mets had to get ready for a game at 6:05. They looked like they could have used more rest. John Maine labored but got through six innings of two-run ball. But he got little if any help from his defense and bats. The Mets' only run scored a run on a double-play......

Rangers 5 Devils 3: There is justice in the hockey world. One game after inadvertently deflecting the winning goal for the Devils off of his skate, Marc Staal scored the winning goal for the Rangers. Staal’s slap shot beat Martin Brodeur through the five-hole with three minutes left in regulation of a 3-3 game and gave the MSG crowd another chance to serenade Brodeur. Staal’s goal was one of the many highlights for the Rangers,......

Photograph of the Mets' Jose Reyes scoring the game-winning run by Mary Altaffer/AP Mets 4, Phillies 3 (12 innings): This looked like it could be another bad loss to the Phillies. Aaron Heilman's best efforts to blow the game resulted in a two-run eighth, and the Mets had to go to extras despite leading most of the game. John Maine's strong start appeared in danger of being wasted. But Billy Wagner, Joe Smith, Scott......

Photo of Carlos Beltran rounding third after a two-run home run against the White Sox in the Civil Rights Game by AP/Bill Waugh Few players can catapult a team from worriers to prohibitive favorites, but Johan Santana can put his name on that list. Before the Mets got him, they and their fans were looking over their shoulders to the Phillies and Braves. Now the team is almost overloaded with optimism. That hope --......

Johan Santana got traded to the Mets about two weeks before the start of spring training, but his face popped up more in the Mets offseason than anyone else's. This was a great way for the Mets to take the attention off the dreadful collapse they suffered at the close of the 2007 season. Before the Mets reported to camp, they had something positive to talk about rather than the evaporation of a seven-game lead......

A Historic Collapse: The Mets held a seven-game lead with 17 to play and were caught looking ahead to the playoffs. What followed was among the worst collapses in history and one that revealed the weaknesses of the players, the manager and the general manager. Jose Reyes and his questionable -- and downright poor -- play summed up the the performance on the field. Manager Willie Randolph's mismanagement of the bullpen came to light......