At least they scored more than two runs.
Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi (he must have been wearing that
golden thong) and Bobby Abreu went deep, but Andy Pettitte and Kyle Farnsworth had two rough innings and Johan Santana settled in after a rocky beginning as the
Mets subdued the Yanks 7-4 at The Stadium.
The Bombers had Santana on the ropes early and held a 2-0 lead through three innings, but it could have been more. Johnny Damon was cut down at home on a bang-bang play in the third and the Yanks then allowed Santana to find his groove. It was only one play, but it really changed the tenor of the game. The Mets would go on to score six unanswered runs before the Yankees chipped away with single runs in the seventh and eighth. The Bombers brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but couldn't deliver the big hit.
The Good:Derek Jeter. The Captain always seems to bring his "A" game against the Mets (.381 career average) and Saturday afternoon was no different. DJ blasted a two-run bomb in the bottom of the first to give the Yanks a quick 2-0 advantage. Unfortunately, it was the only time the Bombers held the lead in this one. DJ was the all-time hits leader in interleague play coming in (254) and he added to his total with three more against the Mets. Jeter finished 3 for 4 with a run scored and 2 ribbies.
The Bad:Kyle Farnsworth. A pitcher never wants to get beaten with his second-best pitch. Well, Farnsworth didn't go out that way on Saturday -- he was beaten with his third-best pitch. Kyle has developed a cutter this season to go along with his fastball and slider and it has served him well (5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R in May), but it failed him twice against the Mets. Farnsy entered the game in the seventh with the Yanks trailing 3-2 and allowed bombs to Jose Reyes and David Wright and just like that the Metropolitans ended the seventh with a 6-2 lead. If I were Farnsworth, I'd have a hard time sleeping tonight. Farnsworth's line: 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 HR.
Joba Chamberlain. The Yankees battled back and cut the deficit to 6-4 heading into the ninth, but Joba couldn't keep the Mets at bay. Chamberlain gave up a one-out triple to Carlos Beltran (Melky Cabrera came ever so close to making a spectacular play), but had a chance to escape unscathed if he retired the slumping Carlos Delgado. It didn't happen. Delgado put together a surprising at-bat and laced a single to right to put the Mets up 7-4. The Yanks have been scrapping to score runs as it is and Joba's failure meant a bloop and a blast wouldn't be enough. Chamberlain's totals: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K.
The Ugly:
Going meekly. Andy Pettitte recorded five strikeouts in the first three innings of work which was both good and bad. Good that Pettitte can still dial it up when he has to, but bad because that means he's throwing more pitches. It seemed to catch up with him in the fourth when the Mets scored three runs. In fairness, Pettitte wasn't exactly tattooed in the inning (a bloop single, a broken-bat single and an infield single contributed to the Mets' rally), but they all count. Anyway, the ugliness game in the bottom of the fourth. Pettitte labored and threw 43 pitches in the top of the inning, but the Yanks went down in order on only six pitches in their half. Giambi lined out on a great play by Santana to lead off the frame and Robinson Cano and Melky grounded out after taking only two pitches each. These things happen (nobody would have cared if the Yanks were able to piece together a run or two in the fourth) and Pettitte didn't give up another run in the game, but sometimes you have to allow your guy to catch his breath before he goes back out there.
The Yanks will try and salvage a game in this abbreviated two-game series on Sunday and send Chien-Ming Wang (6-1, 2.90 ERA) to the hill. The Mets will go with Oliver Perez (3-3, 4.61 ERA). Wang pitched a gem in his only career start against the Metropolitans -- striking out 10 in 8 2/3 innings as the Yankees downed the Mets 8-2 last season in the Bronx. Perez is 3-1 in four lifetime starts against the Bombers with an impressive 3.04 ERA, but Jeter (.333) and Cano (.500) seem to pick up the ball well against him.
Sunday's game will be under the lights courtesy of ESPN.
Time to right the ship in front of a national audience.
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