Weekly Sports Rewind

The two New York baseball teams played a grueling six game stretch in which they faced their divisional rivals and each other. And if you’re a fan of either team, chances are you were not very happy come Monday morning (maybe more so for Mets fans than Yankee fans.) Both teams went 2-4 over the six games, losing ground in their respective divisional races.

The Yankees came into Boston having never won a contest against the Red Sox this season. They were 0-5 against them and when they left town, they were 0-8 against their long time rival. "We definitely didn't envision this when we started off the three-game road trip. We came in here expecting to win some games," said Yankee outfielder, Johnny Damon.

A.J Burnett and Josh Beckett squared off in the first game and Burnett looked like anything but the $85 million prizefighter he was supposed to be. Burnett was rocked for five runs over two and two-thirds of an inning and the Yankees only managed to scrape two hits together, losing 7-0, much to the delight of the Fenway faithful. The next night, last years ace of the Yankees, Chien Ming Wang, made his return from the DL and brought with him an ERA higher than most people’s stock portfolios right now. He allowed four runs in two and two-thirds of an inning pitched, but at least this game was a lot closer than the previous night’s. The Yankees fell behind 6-2 and despite a valiant effort in attempting a comeback, they lost 6-5. The third time is usually a charm, but not this time for the Steinbrenner Nine. The Yankees took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning, and with ace C. C. Sabathia already having thrown 123 pitches over seven innings; it was time to let the bullpen take over. J.D Drew ignited the Boston comeback with a single, scoring Nick green. Jason Bay added another single with the bases loaded to tie the game at three and then Mike Lowell hit a sacrifice fly to score Drew with the eventual game-winning run. Jonathan Papelbon came on in the ninth to close it out and nine pitches later, Boston completed a three game sweep.

Meanwhile, down the turnpike and into Flushing, Queens, the injury depleted New York Mets were hosting their division rivals: the world champion Philadelphia Phillies. Coming into the series, the Mets were 3-1 against the Phillies and they sent ace Johan Santana out to oppose J. A. Happ in the first game. The Mets jumped out to an early lead when David Wright and Carlos Beltran went deep. The Phillies slowly crept back and took the lead away until Santana helped his own cause by using the “butcher boy” play to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth. Santana first showed signs of bunting bunt, then faked it by swinging and blasting the pitch to deep right for an RBI double. Mets outfielder Ryan Church homered for an insurance run but then Phillies star Chase Utley also homered to make the score 6-5. K-Rod came on in relief and saved the game for the Mets.

The next night would be the first of two long games for the Mets and they fell to the Phillies, 5-4, in 11 innings. Chase Utley hit the go-ahead homerun in the bottom of the 11th inning. The game would’ve ended happily for the Mets, if not for Jason Werth, who made a spectacular diving catch of David Wright’s line drive. If that ball falls, the Mets would have won the game. In the final game of the series, Raul Ibanez hit a three-run homerun with two outs in the top of the tenth inning to give the Phillies a 6-3 lead. The Mets had a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning, but they could not hold on as Bobby Parnell was tagged with the loss.

With both teams heading for a train wreck, the Subway Series began Friday night in the Bronx. The first game was a back and forth slugfest, something fans expect to see from these two teams. The Yankees wasted leads of 1-0, 3-2 and 7-6 and heading into the bottom of the ninth, they were trailing 8-7. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Alex Rodriguez stepped to the plate with Derek Jeter on second and Mark Teixeira on first. Facing Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez, A-Rod hit a pop up just beyond the infield and it looked as if the game would end. Luis Castillo was under the easy play and as he tried to put the game away, he couldn’t hold onto the ball and he tumbled to the ground. Jeter scored easily and Teixeira raced around the diamond all the way from first base and beat the throw home, giving the Yankees a dramatic 9-8 victory.

On Saturday afternoon it would be the Mets chance for revenge as Fernando Nieve earned his first major league win in three years. Nieve allowed two runs and four hits in six and two-third innings of work in the 6-2 victory. Along with home runs by Gary Sheffield and Omir Santos, the Mets had 17 hits during the game. Andy Pettite allowed 12 of those hits. In the rubber game on Sunday, the Mets sent Johan Santana to the mound, who looked more like a queen than an ace, against A.J. Burnett and the Yankees. Santana allowed nine runs and nine hits over three innings and was pulled for Brian Stokes. Stokes gave up six more runs as the Yankees cruised to 15-0 victory, which was keyed by Derek Jeter who went 4-4 with two RBI’s. "Today was a terrible day and that's about it," Santana said. "I didn't locate my fastball today the way it's supposed to be located."

The Mets and Yankees are both off on Monday and take on each other’s divisional opponents as interleague play continues this week. The Yankees welcome the lowly Washington Nationals to the Bronx, while the Mets travel to Baltimore to battle the cellar dwelling Orioles. This is a good opportunity for both teams to pad their stats and make up some ground in their respective divisions.

Elsewhere in sports…

The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup with a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 on Friday night. Maxime Talbot scored both goals for the Penguins, before Jonathan Ericsson scored with six minutes remaining to give the Red Wings a little life. The Red Wings came alive at the end with an extra attacker, rifling shots at Penguins goalie Marc Andre Fleury, but Fleury made key saves, including a diving stop on Henrik Zetterberg as the clock expired. Sidney Crosby was out most of the game due to a leg injury he suffered in the second period. Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as the playoffs most valuable player.




Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles Lakers to their 15th NBA Championship last night, defeating the Orlando Magic 99-86 in Game 5 of their best of seven series. For Bryant it was his fourth title, and his first without start center Shaquille O’Neal. For coach Phil Jackson, it was his tenth title, passing Red Auerbach for the most championships won by a coach in league history. Bryant scored 30 points and teammate Pao Gasol scored 14, powering the Lakers over the Magic. Bryant averaged 32.4 points a game and was named the finals MVP. Also for Bryant, he finally answered his critics who said that he couldn’t win without Shaq. "It was like Chinese water torture," he said. "I would cringe every time. I was just like, it's a challenge I'm just going to have to accept because there's no way I'm going to argue it. Shaq congratulated him on his twitter page saying, "Congratulations kobe, u deserve it. You played great. Enjoy it my man enjoy it."



The Jets signed rookie QB Mark Sanchez to a five year deal that could be worth up to $50 million. While I don’t doubt that Sanchez is a good football player, I think he’s getting paid way too much for someone who hasn’t even taken an NFL snap yet. The college game is a lot different than the professional game and not counting injuries, some players have a hard time adjusting (see Matt Leinart). Sanchez comes to the table with a great attitude and strong work ethic and hopefully in time, he will prove his worth. He even stated that he will work harder than ever in order to justify the contract. When was the last time an athlete said that??




Photo Credits: Johan Santana (AP Kathy Willens/ ESPN.com); Kobe Bryant (AP David J. Phillip/ESPN.com); Mark Sanchez (www.nysuperblog.com)