Results tagged “mets”

Now that the World Series will see at least a Game 6, we have another day to enjoy Yankees fans talking smack about the Phillies and Phillies fans ridiculing the Yankees. Last night, the Daily Show tackled the rivalries that New York and Philadelphia fans have with each other in the Clash of the Cretins (yes, there was a woman with a Jagermeister thong outside her jeans—and she also had a "tramp stamp").

With the World Series set for a Yankees-Phillies showdown, Mets fans really caught in between a rock and a hard place. Do they root for their bitter division rival or their hated crosstown rival? Decisions! As Jon Stewart said last night, "I hate the Yankees and the Phillies...I'm a Mets fan. So, for me, [Sunday night] was like watching your wife f--- the Yankees and the Phillies!"

Former Mets GM and now-fired ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips is headed to rehab for sex addiction. His agent Steve Lefkowitz told the Post that the 46-year-old "really needs help, and this was the best way to do it." Phillips' relationship with a 22-year-old ESPN production assistant was revealed last week, as well as some tawdry details.

More details on the Steve Phillips/"Tubby Temptress" ESPN scandal have been revealed, and if you thought it would get any less ridiculous, well, you're sadly mistaken. According to TMZ, Brooke Hundley filed a restraining order against Phillips on Aug. 20, a day after she crashed her car outside the Phillips' home while leaving a way-too-detailed letter describing the affair for Phillips wife. In the restraining order, she alleged that Phillips cornered her in a hotel suite in July, and wouldn't stop harassing her with text messages and phone calls.

While losses are all too familiar to the Mets, it turns out that the organization made a bit from two accounts invested with Bernard Madoff. The NY Times reports, based on court filings, "Mets LP, one of the team’s financial arms, withdrew $570.5 million from two accounts it held with Madoff’s company, $47.8 million more than it put in."

As if signing Mo Vaughn wasn't terrible enough, the Post is reporting today that ESPN baseball analyst and former NY Mets General Manager Steve Phillips was ensnared in a messy affair with a 22-year-old production assistant at ESPN, that ended with some not-too-pleasant hijinks. For instance, the assistant crashed her car into a stone column outside the Phillips's Wilton, Conn. home, after leaving a letter there describing intimacies of the affair (including squirmy details about birth marks in nether-regions).

Oh dear: The AP says that some folks received this email from StubHub: "Be there alongside your New York Mets as they chase baseball immortality. Go to StubHub, where you'll find a fantastic selection of tickets to every playoff game -- so you experience the championship chase live and in person." The ticketing company said, "This was due to an e-mail glitch. We regret the error and apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused."

    

• Giants 27 Kansas City 16: The Chiefs fumbled away the kickoff to New York and things didn’t get much better from there. New York built up a 27-3 lead and then took it easy in the fourth quarter with the game out of hand. Steve Smith continued his dominant season with 11 catches for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns.

• Rangers 5 Ottawa 2: Hockey has blue lines. The Rangers have blue shirts and blue seats and apparently Blue Man Group as fans. They performed before the game and maybe it inspired New York. The top line had a huge night with four goals and two assists while Michael Del Zotto made his case to stay in the NHL and not return to juniors with his first goal and a solid game.

• Royals 4, Yankees 3: Too bad Kyle Farnsworth can't close every game against the Yankees. Joba Chamberlain turned in a middling effort. The Yankees, who have clinched everything from the division to home-field advantage, have nothing to play for except their health. They have an off-day Thursday before traveling to St. Petersburg to play the Rays. Then come the playoffs.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Nothing to Play For"

• Yankees 4 Kansas City 3: There’s nothing more for the Yankees to wrap up in the regular season, but this win was a nice gift to the fans. Sure another win is nice, but the way it happened, a comeback off of old “friend” Kyle Farnsworth was a nice release for the locals. After watching Farnsworth implode in big spots as a Yankee it was nice to see him do it against the Yankees. Juan Miranda completed the comeback with a RBI single in the ninth. More importantly, A.J. Burnett pitched well and David Robertson looked good in his first action in three weeks as he tries to make the postseason roster.
• Washington 4 Mets 3: New York jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but they couldn’t close it as they fell to the Nationals. Two errors in the eighth allowed the Nats to break a 3-3 tie and win the game.

• Yankees 8, Royals 2: The one thing missing from this Yankees season was a Ramiro Pena home run. The reserve shortstop hit his first career homer -- and got the traditional silent treatment from his teammates -- as the Yankees ran away from the Royals. The Yankees have 101 wins, their most since they had 103 in 2002. Robinson Cano, one of the few regulars to play, hit a grand slam, his 25th homer of the season. Chad Gaudin pitched well again for a lineup that included Pena, Shelley Duncan, Juan Miranda, Eric Hinske and Francisco Cervelli.

     

Despite the rain, it was a perfect Sunday in New York- if you are a sports fan. Let’s start with the Yankees who completed their sweep of the Red Sox by winning 4-2 and clinched the AL East and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Yankees will have a week to prepare for the opening of the playoffs where they will face either Detroit or Minnesota.

The 2009 Mets will wrap up their season next Sunday and mercifully put an end to a campaign that everyone will try and forget. But, before we bid these Mets goodbye, it’s worth wondering, why did the season fall apart so badly? Sure there were injuries at an amazing rate, but what caused those injuries? Perhaps you could say that the team was cursed?

• Yankees 3, Red Sox 0: CC Sabathia became the first 19-game winner in the Majors (okay, the American League—the Cards' Adam Wainwright also won his 19th tonight) with his dominating performance against the Red Sox last night. The Yankees' ace threw seven innings, including retiring the first 11 batters he faced and gave up only one-hit to the Sox while striking out 8. The Bombers didn't get on the scoreboard against Daisuke Matsuzaka until Robinson Cano hit his 24th home run of the season to left. Johnny Damon added two insurance runs in the 8th with a soft hit ball to right off Billy Wagner.

• Yankees 9 Boston 5: New York crept even closer to the AL East, lowering their magic number to three and winning for the seventh time in their last eight games against Boston. Joba Chamberlain put a lot of fears to rest by pitching six solid innings and looking like he did two months ago. Alex Rodriguez had a huge night at the plate, going 3-for-3 with 4 RBI’s and swiping three bases. It was part of an offensive onslaught against Jon Lester that only ended when Lester had to leave the game after taking a liner off his knee. Thankfully, x-rays were negative, but Lester will be reexamined tomorrow.

• Yankees 3, Angels 2: For all the talk about how the Yankees can't beat the Angels, the Yankees did finish 5-5 against Los Angeles of Anaheim this season. The fifth and final win came with some irregulars -- including Jerry Hairston Jr., Shelley Duncan and Jose Molina -- in the lineup. It also included Ian Kennedy, back from an aneurysm, wriggling out of an eighth-inning jam. A.J. Burnett pitched 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball for the win. Robinson Cano had a critical two-run single. Melky Cabrera followed that up with an RBI double. Mariano Rivera got the save. The Yankees should have a chance to clinch the American League East this weekend when second-place Boston comes to town.

     

• Giants 33 Cowboys 31: When Giants Stadium opened the Cowboys spoiled things by beating the Giants. New York has returned the favor with a thrilling victory in the opening of Cowboys Stadium which included Mario Manningham showing he could be a #1 receiver. Manningham and Steve Smith had ten catches each and the Giants now have two wins and more importantly two wins in the NFC East.

• Mets 3 Washington 2: If you are looking for positives in a season short on them, look no further than this game. Tim Redding pitched seven-strong innings, lowering his ERA to 2.72 since he rejoined the rotation in August and earning his third win of the season. Jeff Francoeur had two hits and scored two runs while driving in a run as he continued his solid hitting since joining New York.
• Yankees 10 Seattle 1 The Yankees were in control throughout with C.C. Sabathia getting his 18th win. Mark Teixeira went deep twice, triple and knocked in five. With the win, the Yankees lower their magic number to nine.

The only way the Mets season could get any worse right now is if they put Bobby Bonilla in left. The team that many predicted would win the NL East, if not go even further, is now 22 games behind the division-leading Phils, the Mets' biggest deficit since 2003. And Newsday says the odds of ever seeing Carlos Delgado play another home game in Citi Field are looking slimmer and slimmer.

Seattle 3 Yankees 2: This loss hurts, but seeing A.J. Burnett pitch like he did matters more at this point. Burnett pitched seven innings, allowing one run while striking out six. He helped himself immensely by picking Ichiro off of first two separate times. But, Ichiro got his revenge and got it against Mariano Rivera. With two outs in the ninth and the Yankees leading 2-1 Rivera gave up a double and then a home run to Ichiro to turn a Yankee win into a loss. The magic number remains at 10.

A 7-3 loss to the Braves on Thursday followed the formula of many others. At least this one wasn't painful. The Mets hung around, even tying the game in the fourth inning, before eventually falling 21 games under .500. Nelson Figueroa allowed six runs in five innings before being relieved by Tobi Stoner, who pitched three innings of one-run ball. A homestand with last-place Washington should provide a weekend of unwatchable baseball.

• Yankees 5, Blue Jays 4: One day after seeing Jorge Posada provoke a bench-clearing brawl, the Yankees saw his backup win the game in walk-off fashion. Francisco Cervelli hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth after Hideki Matsui tied the game with a two-run homer in the eighth. Chad Gaudin went 5 2/3 innings of three-run ball. With the Red Sox' come-from-behind win at Fenway, the Yankees' magic number is 11 as they prepare to go to the West Coast for one final time this season.
• Braves 6, Mets 5: With the Mets leading by a run entering the bottom of the ninth, Daniel Murphy decided he wanted the Mets to get to 20 games under .500. First, despite guarding the line, he let a Garret Anderson grounder turn into a double by not lunging for it, thinking it was foul. After the Braves had tied the game and had runners on first and second, Murphy made an error that allowed the winning run to score. For those who think Muprpy's offense makes up for his "defense" at first base, think again. He has a .309 on-base percentage and a .403 slugging. That's not even good enough for a great defensive first baseman. Closer Francisco Rodriguez wasn't pleased, either.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Back in the W Column"

• Toronto 10 Yankees 4: The Yankees must see something in Sergio Mitre because they keep giving him the ball even though he doesn’t pitch very well at all. Mitre’s latest clunker was seven earned runs over five innings. Despite the bad start, the Yankees had their chances. They pounded out 11 hits against Roy Halladay, but they could not string enough of them together. Things got testy in the eighth when the benches cleared after Jorge Posada brushed the Toronto pitcher as he was running past him. Several punches were thrown and the Yankees will probably have some players suspended as a result. Boston won, so the lead in the AL East is now 6.5 games.
• Atlanta 6 Mets 0: Tommy Hanson is making a strong case to be the Rookie of the Year in the NL. On Tuesday, Hanson won his 10th game of the year, holding the Mets scoreless over seven innings while striking out 8. Pat Misch was not as good, allowing four runs in five innings of work which earned him the loss.

     

• Jets 24 Houston 7: Mark Sanchez had a great NFL debut and Rex Ryan won his first game as Jets coach. Sanchez completed 18-of-31 passes with 1 TD and 1 interception, as he became the first rookie QB to start a game for the Jets in 32 years. As impressive as Sanchez was, the Jets defense deserves a lot of credit. They dominated the Texans’ offense, allowing only 11 first downs and 183 yards on offense.

• New York 10 Philadelphia 9: New York jumped out to a 4-0 lead and turned to Mike Pelfrey to make it standup. Pelfrey couldn’t handle that, surrendering eight runs in six innings of work and he left with the Phillies up 8-4. But, the Philadelphia bullpen is a mess and the Mets rallied with three in the eighth and two in the ninth, thanks to a David Wright home run to take the lead. K-Rod shut the door and the Mets and their fans had a reason to celebrate.

• Baltimore 10 Yankees 4: Derek Jeter is all alone atop the Yankees’ career hit list. Jeter struck out in the first, but laced a single to right in the third to set the record. His teammates mobbed him and the game was delayed for several minutes as the crowd roared its approval. But, Jeter hit into a key double play later in the game and the bullpen imploded leaving the Yankees with a big deficit when the rains came.

In May, a man was arrested after running out onto Citi Field—wearing a thong (with a monkey stuffed animal)—and trying to slide into second base. Yesterday, Craig Coakley was fined $3,000 and sentenced to 20 days of community service. The 29-year-old showed off his Mets chest tattoo to the Post yesterday and said, "I would love to do my service at Citi Field. I have no problem scraping gum off the floor." Unfortunately, Queens DA Richard Brown pointed out, "The defendant’s antics have resulted in a criminal record, the paying of thousands of dollars in fines and civil penalties, and - perhaps the worse punishment for any true Mets fan - precludes him from ever again visiting Citi Field or any of the New York Mets other venues - such as KeySpan Park in Brooklyn or Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, Florida," adding that his office and the Mets "have zero tolerance for those who interfere with the play of America’s pastime." Still, Coakley noted that he didn't try to kiss a Mets player, like a US Open fan did with Rafael Nadal recently. After the jump: Coakley being tackled by Citi Field security.

• Marlins 13, Mets 4: So much for the hope Bobby Parnell's last start inspired. He gave up six runs in five innings, walking five and striking out six. The Mets were three runs down before they hit in the bottom of the first. Angel Pagan and Jeff Francoeur had three hits apiece; the rest of the team had six total. But they couldn't get enough runs across. Next up: a four-game series in Philadelphia.
• Shock 94, Liberty 87 (OT): Just a heartbreaking loss for the Liberty. Essence Carson had 28 points in defeat. The Liberty are already out of playoff contention, so feel free to do what you want in October.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: No Momentum"

• Yankees 4 Tampa Bay 2: The Yankees swept the Rays in an eventful game in the Bronx. Things started with Joba Chamberlain struggling again in the first inning by giving up two runs, but Joba pitched a lot better after it appeared that Derek Jeter have him a bit of a pep talk. Jeter laid down a bunt to leadoff the game and beat it out for a hit. He had two more hits, tying him with Lou Gehrig, but the Yankees still trailed 2-0 in the eighth. But, A-Rod and Matsui got hits, Tampa made a huge error and Jorge Posada cleared the bases with a three-run pinch-hit blast. The Yankees chose to give Mariano the night off and the combination of Bruney and Coke finished things off in the ninth.
• Florida 6 Mets 3: Florida scored four in the first and never looked back. Daniel Murphy had a RBI double in the loss.
• US Open: Cinderella story Melanie Oudin fell in two sets to Caroline Wozniacki, seeded 9th, 6-2, 6-2. Others advancing to the semifinals were Yanina Wickmayer over Kateryna Bondarenko on the women's side, and Roger Federer over Robin Soderling and Novak Djokovic over Fernando Verdasco.