On Saturday, the Yanks made the most out of their hits.
They couldn't repeat that feat Sunday afternoon.
Darrell Rasner held the fort for five innings and Wilson Betemit hit a gargantuan tater in the seventh, but Oliver Perez dominated in his seven innings and the pen finished it off as the
Mets snipped the Yanks 3-1 at Shea Stadium. The Bombers managed only four hits on the day, but still had a chance in the ninth. Derek Jeter opened the frame with a single off of closer Billy Wagner with the heart of the order coming up. But Alex Rodriguez just missed a game-tying jack with a fly out to left. Jorge Posada followed with a groundout and Betemit went down looking for the final out of the ballgame.
But the story of the game was Perez. Ollie upped his career mark against the Yanks to 5-1 with seven shutout innings, including eight strikeouts and zero walks. How is this guy just 6-5 with an ERA hovering around 5.00 this season?
The Good:Wilson Betemit. Hits and runs were at a premium for the Yanks and Betemit was the offense. Betemit got his first start at second base against the lefty Perez and responded by hitting a titanic solo shot that cleared the bleachers in left. Wil entered the game with a .235 career average from the right side, but he's batting a more respectable .260 this season. It was also his second homer off a left-hander this year. Betetmit finished 1 for 4 with a run scored and the lone RBI.
The Bad:David Robertson. I don't want to dump on the newest Yankee reliever (after all, it was his first big-league game), but the rookie gave up a big run in the sixth. Actually, I question why Joe Girardi would go to Robertson in a 2-0 game in the sixth. I guess he wanted to get the kid's feet wet. In any event, Robertson managed to control his fear for the most part, but his wild pitch with runners on first and second was key and turned into a David Wright sacrifice fly. That put the Mets up 3-0. That meant a bloop and blast wouldn't get the job done. Yes, the Yanks managed to move back to that scenario after Betemit's home run, but it still was an important run. Or maybe I'm just being too critical. Robertson's Major League debut went like this: 2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 WP.
Melky Cabrera. Another day, another poor offensive showing for Melky. Sure, the Yanks managed only four hits on the day, but Cabrera's struggles at the plate continued. The Melk-Man finished 0 for 11 this weekend at Shea and has seen his average dip to .246 on the season. Melky finished 0 for 3, but reached on an error in the seventh.
The Ugly:Fits and tantrums. Speaking of errors, Jose Reyes continues to show errors in judgment on the field. Melky hit a routine grounder to Reyes for what looked like the final out of the seventh, but Reyes was a bit lazy with his throw and Carlos Delgado had to come off the bag to make the catch. He didn't. The ball tipped off his glove and went into the Mets dugout for a two-base error. The miscue was charged to Reyes, but it was a play Delgado should have made. Reyes' reaction? He stomped around the infield and eventually slammed his glove to the dirt in disgust. Maybe he was upset with his throw (unlikely) or with Delgado's effort. Either way, his behavior was uncalled for and ridiculous. I was watching the game on YES (surprise, surprise) and Michael Kay and Ken Singleton ripped into Reyes. Singleton went as far as saying that that type of reaction wouldn't stand back when he was playing. I wonder if the guys on
SNY were as critical. I also wonder how things will go down in the Mets locker room.
The Yanks head back to the Bronx for their final homestand before the All-Star break and welcome in the Texas Rangers for a three-game set beginning Monday night. Mike Mussina (10-5, 3.93 ERA) will go on three days rest and locks up against Scott Feldman (1-3, 4.60 ERA). Feldman has been Mr. No Decision lately -- he's 0-2 in his past eight starts. In fact, he hasn't won since spinning six shutout innings in a 4-0 victory over the Oakland A's on May 9. Feldman has made one career appearance against the Yanks and it wasn't a good one. He pitched 1/3 of an inning and gave up three runs on three hits for an 81.00 ERA. The Moose's last start in Pittsburgh was cut short after two innings because of the rainout so he'll get the call instead of Joba Chamberlain. Mussina is a creature of habit and hasn't enjoyed pitching on short rest in the past (4-4 with a 4.95 ERA in 10 starts), but this is the new, improved Mike Mussina. Moose is 4-1 in his past six starts and is 17-12 with a 3.76 ERA in 35 career starts against the Rangers.
The second half of the season has officially begun for the Yanks.
Let's see what they're made of.
Leave a comment
If I had to say, I think Reyes was mad at Delgado being that he could have easily made that catch. It's probably a reaction against his whole year of bad fielding, even though this one really wasn't his fault. Apparently, he's made lots of errors this year.