They say revenge is a plate better served cold…and nothing was colder tonight than the New York Yankees. Johan Santana exacted some revenge against the New York Yankees tonight, holding the Yankees to one run over 7.2 innings. Johan could not have completed his revenge without the assistance of his left hand man Jason Bay, who took it to CC Sabathia on the other side of the ball with his 2 home runs.
Mets batters all wanted a piece on the “hit” Johan put out for CC. In the 2nd inning, Rod Barajas had a lead off double to start the inning. After Jeff Francoeur struck out, Jose Reyes hit a single that moved Barajas to 3rd but Jose moved up to 2nd on a fielding error. Alex Cora singled to score Rod Barajas and Jose Reyes to put the Mets up 2-0. Jason Bay would come up and flex the gun show as he crushed a ball over the left field fence for his second home run of the year. Ike Davis struck out swinging but the Mets were up 4-0.
Johan Santana would cruise from there, keeping the Yankees off the board for 3 innings. Jason Bay came up in the 5th inning and again took CC Sabathia out of the park, this time to the opposite field. Ike Davis singled next and moved over to 2nd on a passed ball. David Wright would double in Ike Davis to put the Mets up 6-0. CC Sabathia was lifted for Sergio Mitre the next inning. In the 6th inning, Mitre got Jose Reyes and Alex Cora to get out rather quickly but hit Jason Bay in the back with a pitch that prompted the umpire crew to warn both the Mets and Yankees bench. In my opinion, it did not look intentional.
Johan Santana let up his only run in the 7th inning. Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano made easy outs to start the inning but Johan walked Nick Swisher. Francisco Cervelli took Johan Santana deep but his ball hit the top of the padding on the left field wall. This play had to be reviewed but it turns out it was officially ruled a single but Nick Swisher came around to score anyway. Kevin Russo flied out to end the inning.
Johan Santana started to run out of gas in the 8th inning. Johan walked Marcus Thames who pinch hit for Sergio Mitre but got Derek Jeter to ground into a fielder’s choice. Brett Gardner lined out for the 2nd out of the inning but Mark Teixeira singled to move Derek Jeter to second. Johan Santana walked Alex Rodriguez after an epic at bat to load the bases which promted Jerry Manuel to bring in Pedro Feliciano to pitch to Robinson Cano. Pedro Feliciano threw 2 breaking pitches to get ahead 0-2 and threw a 3rd breaking pitch that Robinson Cano poped up on to end the inning.
The game got ridiculously drama filled in the 9th inning. With the game pretty much done in the Mets favor(being up 6-1), Jerry Manuel decided to bring in Ryota Igarashi who is just fresh off the DL for some cleanup work. From the get go, Iggy didnt look like he was ready. Iggy walked Nick Swisher to start the inning and then let up a single to Francisco Cervelli to put runners on with 0 out. Kevin Russo grounded into a fielders choice that that put runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Juan Miranda singled in a run to bring the Yankees closer to a potential comeback. Jerry had enough and brought in Francisco Rodriguez to close this one out. Now, K-rod threw 28 pitches the night before and it looked to have some effect on him as he was not as sharp as last night. Franky gave up a double to Derek Jeter which scored Kevin Russo and moved Juan Miranda to third. Rodriguez got Brett Gardener to ground out to third which scored Juan Miranda and now the game is 6-4 with a runner on and Mark Teixeira coming up. Mark hit a sky high chopper that stayed in the air long enough for him to make it to 1st safely and set the stage for Alex Rodriguez to be the go ahead run. Francisco Rodriguez and Alex Rodriguez locked in for a truly epic at bat but it was Franky who got the last laugh on a beautiful curve ball on a 3-2 count to seal the deal. Johan got his 4th win and K-Rod got his 8th save. More importantly however, the Mets won their first rubber game of the year and the subway series from the Yankees.
15 comments
metsfan4decades
5/23/2010-11:57pm at 11:57 pm (UTC -4)
LOL, loved the graphics.
2 of 3 from the WC Yanks. We won the series and came close to sweeping.
Johan is the MAN. Iggy was over pumped and KRod will give you a heart attack but they got the job done. Pedro does what Pedro does best and here’s hoping Bay’s power swing has woke up.
Now on to the Phillies.
DNDJohan aka kistics
5/23/2010-11:59pm at 11:59 pm (UTC -4)
Have the Red Sox hung 7 runs off Halladay? ESPN scroll on the bottom had that stupid thing on like 2,000 times during the game.
metsfan4decades
5/24/2010-12:06am at 12:06 am (UTC -4)
LOL. Yup, 7 – count them 7 – runs.
DNDJohan aka kistics
5/23/2010-11:57pm at 11:57 pm (UTC -4)
Johan’s drop in velocity had me worried in the 7th. He was throwing his FB 86-87 and threw like 6 straight balls, very unlike Santana. Dunno why Warthen didn’t go out to talk to him at all. Hope it’s not anything serious but running out of gas.
stickguy
5/23/2010-11:59pm at 11:59 pm (UTC -4)
win is a win baby.
and good thing they have tomorrow off to mental recover and get ready for the phils, who aren’t exactly lighting the world on fire.
If the mets are going to get back in this, they need to start now. 2-3 minimum, and a sweep suddenly puts them right in the hunt.
Big chance to step it up, and make a statement. And of course, keep Jerry around for a while longer.
Mr North Jersey
5/24/2010-12:07am at 12:07 am (UTC -4)
Nice post Dirty.
Aint nothing but a G Thang is especially nice.
Looks like the 9th inning became a nail biter but I think the saying goes something like “beggars can’t be choosers” Mets won they don’t get extra for style points so it’s good to know the Mets took a series vs the Yankees at Home.
I saw Santana in between commercials of Lost Series Finale and have to say he looked scary good when I saw him.
Yes he started to run out of gas like Dirty cleverly posted but he gave us 7.2/IP before he left for Feliciano. The Pen picked him up for a change and held lead.
Now they are 1 below 500 with Phillies coming in our real rivals and winning that series means more than this series so lets see them get some payback and stick it to the Phils.
No Fire Jerry talk for a day or Fire HoJo or Fire Warthen for at least another day or maybe not.
trs86
5/24/2010-9:32am at 9:32 am (UTC -4)
Fire Hojo.
CaseStreet
5/24/2010-12:14am at 12:14 am (UTC -4)
What do I get for winning the bonus questions?
BTW, something weird happened today. Mets fans were out in force. It’s been a while since I’ve seen so much Mets gear on the street. Us NYC Mets fans really love beating the Yankees. I got lots of positive comments wearing my Santana jersey today. It’ll be fun to rub in K-Rod’s strikeout of A-Roid.
Mr North Jersey
5/24/2010-12:16am at 12:16 am (UTC -4)
You get “Lost” the Complete Collection on VHS.
CaseStreet
5/24/2010-12:21am at 12:21 am (UTC -4)
um, I’d rather get a ER collection.
CaseStreet
5/24/2010-12:23am at 12:23 am (UTC -4)
BTW, anyone want to let Joe know Oswalt will never agree to come NYC, though I find it interesting that the Nats consider themselves enough of a contender that they have interest in trading for Oswalt.
stickguy
5/24/2010-12:26am at 12:26 am (UTC -4)
nats are interesting. They don’t have a high payroll, but no idea what they have to offer the Astros other than salary relief.
But, Oswalt (if he can keep this up), Zimmerman (if recovered fully) and Strassburg (if he can do it at the ML level) could give them a tough rotation.
They are also in the mode of having to get fans hooked. so even if they really aren’t that much of a contender, it might be worth rolling the dice to get the fan base engaged.
dirtysanchez
5/24/2010-12:30am at 12:30 am (UTC -4)
but its still up to oswalt. Dont know how going to the nats will give him better odds to go to the playoffs than the stros. I dont think the nats stand any better of a shot to get him than we do honestly..
Mr North Jersey
5/24/2010-12:35am at 12:35 am (UTC -4)
Agreed
Mr North Jersey
5/24/2010-12:35am at 12:35 am (UTC -4)
I watch the Nats and I see many of the qualities that I love about the Mets and their history.
A bumbling team trying to find their way and identity. Can Strasburg be their version of our Tom Seaver?
As a baseball fan I am curious to see what the Nats future holds I mean so long as they don’t get in our way of winning games or making the postseason.