Yanks Take Homestand Opener; Mets Drop 2nd in a Row in Steel City

For the second night in a row, the Yankees were victorious while the Mets floundered. The Yanks returned to the Bronx to open a three-game set against the Rangers and flexed their muscles in a 12-3 victory.

AJ Burnett got the start and performed well aside from one rough inning. He gave up a 3-run homer in the 3rd to Nelson Cruz, and was very strong outside of that. His final line: 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 110 pitches. Another solid start from a Yankee pitcher, which has been the key to their success.

Key Highlights:
*The entire Yankees 4th inning, in which they scored 7 runs off Vicente Padilla and Derek Holland. The big play in the inning: Mark Teixeira sliding into second to break up a potential inning-ending double play with A-Rod at the plate. He slid hard into Elvis Andrus, kept the inning going, and the Yanks ended up plating five more runs. The final three came off the bat of Hideki Matsui, who launched a homer into the right field bullpen. Big offensive showcase for the Yanks.

*Jorge Posada launched a bomb of his own, drilling a Warner Madrigal pitch deep into the second deck in right for a 3-run dinger. This one put the game officially away and was a mammoth bomb.

Key Stats:
*1 walk for AJ Burnett. After winning his first two starts, in which he gave up just 1 walk in each, he has given up under 2 walks in a start just once in 8 starts since. His totals: 2 twice, 3, 4 twice, 6, and 7. He walked 4 against the Rangers last week, and only one tonight. He did a much better job challenging the hitters, and trusting the defense behind him, which was great.

*E2 in the Top of the 4th inning. That would be charged to Jorge Posada when he airmailed a throw to second, trying to catch Elvis Andrus stealing. That was the Yanks' first error in 18 games, ending their record streak.

*Jeter: 3-4 at the plate, extends his hitting streak to 16 games.

*Teixeira: 0-2 at the plate, ends his hitting streak at 14 games. He was hit twice by a pitch, and showed some anger after the 2nd one, yelling at Padilla on the mound, sliding hard into second, and being overly emotional in the dugout after Matsui's home run later that inning.

As for the Mets, they were stymied by Zach Duke, and the Pirates made 3 runs of Johan Santana stand up in a 3-1 win. The Mets were once again without the services of Carlos Beltran, who is still battling a stomach virus, and apparently, an SNY Producer may have the Swine Flu. Not good news for the Mets, neither was losing a second straight game to the Pirates.

Santana was solid again, pitching 6 innings. He gave up 7 hits, 3 runs, walked 1, and struck out 3. He threw just 85 pitches. All the Mets could muster was a sac fly off the bat of Luis Castillo in the 5th inning. In addition, Ramon Martinez was injured, hurting his finger, and left the game after just 2 at-bats.

Key Highlights:
*In the 5th, after the Mets took a 1-0 lead, Jason Jaramillo took Santana deep to left with one out to tie the score. Good way for the Pirates to respond and keep things close against a dominant pitcher like Johan Santana. It was his first dinger of the season.

*In the 6th, the Pirates took the lead for good. Nate McLouth and Adam LaRoche hit back-to-back, almost identical doubles to right, plating a run a piece, and giving their team a 3-1 lead. Santana was strong all night up until the 6th, and the Pirates made him pay.

Key Stats:
*0 strikeouts for Pirates pitching. Facing a tough task against Johan Santana, the Pirates pitchers needed to be just as good if not better. The combo of Duke, John Grabow, and Matt Capps threw 9 innings of 1-run ball, and didn't K one Met batter. That's impressive.

*Jeremy Reed: 3-for-3 at the plate. Reed was once again impressive at the dish. 3 hits for him after 2 hits and 2 runs scored last night. Good to see him starting to pick up on the offense, especially when the rest of his team went 5-for-27 at the plate.

That's all for tonight. Yanks and Rangers again tomorrow at 7. Andy Pettitte goes for win #6 against Scott Feldman. Mets at the Pirates also at 7. Mike Pelfrey tries for his 5th victory against former-Yankee Ross Ohlendorf, who is 5-5 for the Bucs.

Around New York on a Wednesday in February

Hey Everyone. So today I figured I'd cover a whole mess of New York sports news considering there were so many teams in action and other news today. So, here we go:

Yankees:
Beat the Blue Jays 6-1 in their first spring training game of the season. A-Rod was booed and responded with a homer. Brett Gardner hit one as well. Very impressive to see the little guy show he has some power and on the second pitch of the game no less. I think this guy desperately wants to make the team and will have a monster spring to prove he deserves the center field spot. Pitchers threw fairly well so that's a good sign. Overall, solid start for the Yanks.

Mets:
Also started off the spring well with a 9-3 rout of the Orioles. Biggest surprises were four RBI's for Luis Castillo and three for Ryan Church. It would be huge for the Mets to have a good campaign from Castillo after a mediocre start with the team. It's also important that Church shows he can still play well after his concussion problems last year. Pitching was alright but no one very important threw. Again, good beginning.

Rangers:
In their first game under new Head Coach John Tortorella, the Rangers showed more of the same and lost in a shootout 2-1 in Toronto. The team is just incapable of scoring. They had a ton of opportunities and got more shots on net but failed to capitalize. Nice to see Wade Redden get in the goal column for the first time since the home opener on October 10th. The team looked a little more lively but continues to struggle scoring goals every game.

Knicks:
Another game that looked close at the end, but a lackluster effort at the beginning did them in. Mike D'Antoni was as irate as I've ever seen in the first half when his team failed to shoot well from the field and lacked communication on defense. It was like the Knicks just came out half asleep. The second half was much better, and I was impressed with Danilo Gallinari's shooting. However, Larry Hughes and Chris Wilcox failed to impress, and the team as a whole will need to play well for 48 minutes every night if they want to get in the playoffs.

Jets:
The long relationship with Laveranues Coles is over after the Jets and the receiver parted ways. Now, he can still come back as a free agent, but I think the Jets might go after a guy like Marvin Harrison or someone else to help boost a struggling Jets offense. Coles is a great receiver, but he was never part of the Jets' prime plans last year. It would be smarter for the Jets to get someone who can be more of a primary option.

Giants:
Brandon Jacobs was locked up for four years in a deal that was important to keep the Giants running game as superb as it's been. Jacobs has had to deal with injuries, but he provides a power running game that not too many have in the NFL. Not much to say about this, but the Giants made the right move by keeping him in a blue jersey.