Photographs of Alex Rodriguez hitting a home run, Rodriguez waiting for a ruling on the home run and then the umpire ruling it was was home run from the AP Mets 9, Brewers 2: Wednesday was a good day for the players brought back in the Lastings Milledge deal. Ryan Church and Brian Schneider each went deep in a six-run first inning -- Church hit a grand slam -- as the Mets gave Oliver......

Photograph of Johan Santana pitching against the Brewers by Bill Waugh/AP Mets 4 Milwaukee 2: There is a good chance that this series could be a preview of the playoffs so it behooves the Mets to jump on the Brewers and pay them back for a series loss back in April. Johan Santana pitched very well, striking out 10 over six innings, but he left the game losing 2-0. Luckily for the Mets, Brewers’......

Mets 3, Astros 0: They didn't score often, but the 3 runs the Mets scored early was enough to help Johan Santana to his third straight win. Santana pitched seven scoreless innings, but needed a career-high 121 pitches to do so. The Mets got the scoring started in the 1st when David Wright drove in Jose Reyes in on a single. In the 2nd inning, Brian Schneider hit a two-run home run, his fifth of......

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 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......

Yankees 12, Royals 11: Coming up six times in a nine-inning game is tough enough. Getting a hit in each of those at-bats is almost unheard of. Johnny Damon did just that, however, tying an American League record for a nine-inning game and matching a Yankees record for most in any game. His sixth hit was the sweetest, as it was a line-drive single in the bottom of the ninth that plated Wilson Betemit for......

Mets 6, Dodgers 1: If this homestand was a referendum on Willie Randolph's performance, the Mets helped his job security. Johan Santana worked into the eighth after enjoying a 10-batter, five-run third. Ryan Church, who will revert to the Ryan Church of old at some point, had a homer in that inning, as did Carlos Beltran. It was Church's first game since May 26 and his first start since May 20 in Atlanta. The......

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......

Tampa Bay 2 Yankees 1 (11th): Even the best don’t get it done on some night, Tuesday was Mariano Rivera’s turn. Rivera pitched a scoreless tenth, but he couldn’t get out of the eleventh and the Yankees lost for the second-consecutive night. But, the blame shouldn’t go on the pitching staff, they only allowed two runs over eleven innings, it was the hitting that was awful. The Yankees managed to only get six hits and......

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......

Photograph of Joba Chamberlain after giving up a three-run homer run in the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium by Julie Jacobson/AP Cleveland 5 Yankees 3: Could the definition of irony be that Joba Chamberlain gives up three runs in the majors on the same night that Ian Kennedy dominates AAA? Perhaps, but maybe we should just focus on how tough it is to protect a one-run lead. Joba couldn’t do it in the 8th,......

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......

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 Devils' Zach Parise putting the puck past Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist by Bill Kostroun/AP Devils 3, Rangers 2 (SO): Needing a win in regulation to secure home ice in the playoffs, the Rangers pulled out all the stops. Not even adding an extra skater by pulling Henrik Lundqvist could do the trick, however, and the Devils finally beat the Rangers. New Jersey had lost the first seven games between the clubs......

Mets 13 Marlins 0: The game is the good news as the Mets pounded out 17 hits against Florida in an easy win. Ryan Church got it started with a home run in the second and David Wright also added his first shot of the year. Oliver Perez looked very good, striking out eight over six innings. The bad news came from Pedro Martinez who is out 4-to-6 weeks with what is being described as......

Photograph of Joe Torre and Willie Randolph greeting each other before a game in Port St. Lucie, FL, by Nati Harnik/AP Okay, Mets manager Willie Randolph hasn't been in pinstripes for a while, but this photograph of him saying hi to new Dodgers manager Joe Torre just seems like something from the bizarro world - not that there's anything wrong with that! Randolph, who was a Yankees coach under Torre, said, "It was a......

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......

After two seasons of constant trade speculation, the Mets finally have moved Lastings Milledge in a deal this afternoon to the division rival Washington Nationals. In return, the Mets receive Outfielder Ryan Church and Catcher Brian Schneider. Milledge was not always a model citizen as a Met, either on the field or of the field, but nonetheless had been long touted by the organization and the media by a top tier outfield prospect. While he......