Pitching is the name of the game Saturday

Saturday’s 3:55 start, for the FOX game of the week should feature some great pitching.

Johan Santana, 7-6 with a 2.93 ERA will be on the mound for the 39-40 Mets, while lefty Andy Pettitte 8-5 with a 4.04 ERA will pitch for the 43-37 Yankees. The Mets and Yankees split the home and away games on Friday, and will continue their series Saturday and Sunday.

Pettitte has won his last five decisions and has not lost a game since May 17, which was ironically against the New York Mets. Andy has pitched atleast six innings in his last eight starts.

Santana has dropped his last three decisions, and has not won a start since June 1 against the Dodgers. Despite his losing, Santana has pitched at least 6 innings in all of those starts. Santana is 4-0 lifetime against the Yankees in six career starts.

This should be a classic at Shea Saturday! Let’s hope for another well pitched game for Pettitte, that gets the ball rolling against Johan!

Go Yankees!

1. Damon, LF
2. Jeter, SS
3. Abreu, RF
4. Rodriguez, 3B
5. Giambi, 1B
6. Posada, C
7. Cano, 2B
8. Cabrera, CF
9. Pettitte, P

Ponson brilliant, Yankees split

The Mets won the first game in lopsided fashion at Yankee Stadium, and the Yankees returned the favor in the night game in Flushing.

Sidney Ponson was brilliant, going 6 scoreless innings, and allowing just five hits. The bullpen then went three strong innings to complete the 9-0 shut out of the Mets.

The Yankees scored all of their runs in the middle innings, scoring 2 per inning in the 4th, 5th, and 6th, and adding 3 more in the 7th. Bobby Abreu went 4 for 4 and drove in three runs, while Derek Jeter drove in 2 runs as well.

For the Mets, Pedro Martinez dropped his second straight start, and is now 2-2 on the season.

Mets win first of two

The New York Mets pounded out 15 runs on 14 hits to win the first of a doubleheader against the Yankees. Dan Giese fell to 1-3 on the season, by going only 4 innings, allowing 5 hits and 6 runs, all earned. The three bullpen pitchers for the Yankees also did not fare well, as all four pitchers on the night gave up atleast a run.

The Mets got the scoring started early with a David Wright RBI in the first, which was countered by Jason Giambi’s RBI single. The Mets then scored twice in the third on a Carlos Beltran two-run bomb. The Yankees bounced back with three and took a 4-3 third inning lead. Rodriguez, Cano, and Betemit all drove in runs in that inning.

The Mets then added 3 in the fifth, 5 in the sixth, and 4 in the eighth, for the 15 run outburst. Carlos Delgado went deep twice, and drove in a record 9 RBIs for the Mets. David Wright and Carlos Beltran each drove in three runs, making up the Mets total of fifteen.

For the Yankees Alex Rodriguez went 3 for 4, raising his average to .332 on the season.

Mike Pelfrey picked up the win for the Mets.

New York/New York

New York, New York! Mets/Yankees! What a battle it should be this weekend at historic Yankee Stadium. 2:05pm start for the New York battle pits Mike Pelrey for the Mets, against Dan Giese for the Yankees.

Pelfrey is 4-6 with a 4.30 era and has never pitched against the Yankees in his career. He has won his last two starts, and has not lost in his last five. He had his outing three weeks ago against Arizona, where he threw 8 solid innings, allowing 5 hits and just 1 run. The 6′7, 230 lbs righthander was a first round draft pick of the Mets in the 2005 MLB draft.

Giese is making just his second start of the season. The 31 year old righthander out of Anaheim California, was drafted in the 34th round of the 1999 draft, and did not make a major league start until this year. Dan is 6′3, 200lbs. In his first major league start, he went 6.2 innings, allowing just four hits and three runs, in a 6-0 loss to the CIncinnati Reds. His season era is at a sparkling 0.64. Giese has never faced the Mets in his career.

This should be a terrific series, as Mets-Yankees always is. This time, both teams are fighting to get back into contention. The Yankees sit 5.5 games back in third place in the AL East, while the Mets rest at 38-39, but only 4.5 games back in the NL East. They have moved up due to the Phillies losing 6 of their last 7, and the Marlins getting swept by Tampa Bay.

Good luck to the Yankees. May the best team win- and that will be the Yankees!

1. Cabrera, CF
2. Jeter, SS
3. Abreu, RF
4. Rodriguez, 3B
5. Giambi, DH
6. Posada, C
7. Cano, 2B
8. Betemit, 1B
9. Christian LF

Yankees-Pirates Game 3 Postponed

Due to rain tonight’s game has been postponed to July 10th at 7:05EST. The game went to the top of third (Yankees batting) with two outs and no one on base before the rain started to come down. Current score is 3-1, Yanks, thanks to two doubles and a triple in the 1st. One of those doubles is by Derek Jeter, who now has a hit in 14 straight games. Moose is looking good so far, with 2 Ks and only three hits allowed in the first two innings. That’s about it for the action tonight, we will have to wait a couple of weeks to see how it all unfolds.

Joba Shuts Up Critics

Joba Chamberlain effectively shut up all of his critics after another good performance as starter for the Yankees. Who said that moving him to the rotation would be a bad idea? There were plenty, but for now all we will hear from them on the issue is silence. Joba has effectively transitioned to the starting role and I think even his harshest critics now realize that this kid is really something spectacular. And the dominance is only beginning…

Last night’s game was the first in which the Nebraska native didn’t have a pitch count limitation. Without the restriction he will have one less thing on his mind and he will be able to concentrate more on doing what he does best: pitching well. The match against the Pirates also helped Joba get his first win as a starter, another hurdle which he no longer needs to be questioned or worried about.

In his five starts for the Yankees, Joba has been phenomenal, with a 2.03 ERA since he moved up and 26 Ks in 25 innings pitched. He has regularly hit 99 mph on the radar gun and his control seems to be back after a shaky first couple of starts. That’s really a small issue though, considering that it takes time for relievers to ease into a starting role, and such issues are ordinary. As time passes we can expect Chamberlain to get even more comfortable, but I don’t know if the stats can really get any better because they have already been simply amazing. His bb/ip ratio is sure to go down, the only reason it being a bit high is because of the aforementioned transitional side-effects.

Simply put, Joba Chamberlain is going to be one heck of a pitcher for the Yankees. We all knew it would happen, but seeing it actually happen is a lot more than just speculating about it. For the Yankees he will be a potent weapon and for our opponents a nightmare. We are on the verge of an exciting era in Yankee baseball. I for one can’t wait for his future starts.