MVN - Most Valuable Network

Recap: Should Have Been 13-2! Mets 11- Yankees 2

The Mets completed a sweep of their shortened two-game series of the Yankees in the Bronx, drubbing them 11-2 on national television. The Yankees ace, Chien-Ming Wang was tagged for 7 runs over 7 2/3 innings, his worst outing of the year. But his line could have, and should have been even worse.

In the 4th inning the Mets had already put up 3 runs when Carlos Delgado took Wang deep the other way and just off the foul pole in left for an apparent 3-run homer. It was originally ruled a fair ball, but the umpires discussed and reversed the call. Replays clearly show the ball go off the bottom of the pole.

Delgado singled home a run nonetheless, and the Mets were up for good 4-0. They added one in the 6th to make it 5-2 after the Yankees halved the lead, and then they blew it open in the 8th. The Mets put up a 6 spot to put the nail in the coffin, highlighted by Jose Reyes’ 3-run shot to deep right-centerfield. It was Reyes’ 2nd consecutive game at Yankee Stadium with a homerun.

Oliver Perez pitched very well, going farther than he has all year, 7 2/3 innings for his 4th win. Perez gave up just 3 hits and struck out 4, keeping the Yankees off balance all night. He left with 2 outs in the 8th to an ovation in the Bronx, and he tipped his cap to the road fans.

Ryan Church belted his 9th HR of the season in the 6th inning. Moises Alou knocked in 2 runs, while Brian Schneider and Luis Castillo each drove one run home.

Rizzi’s Rant:

Hearing “Let’s Go Mets” chants throughout Yankee Stadium is my favorite thing to hear in all of sports. I am hoping and praying these Billy Wagner comments are going to turn this season around. The season often finds its shape when the Mets play in the Bronx. Remember in 1999 the Mets entire coaching staff was taken from Bobby Valentine after the Mets lost the first two games at Yankee Stadium. The Mets beat the Yanks that night thanks to a grand slam by Mike Piazza off his buddy Roger Clemens, and they went on to a ridiculous run over a 55 game span. Maybe something magic can happen again, 9 years later.

Thank God that Delgado homerun did not come back to haunt us. I would have flipped out if we had lost by one or two runs. I am angry anyway, even though we won 11-2. It should have been 13. Anyway it was good and interesting to see Willie get very heated after the reversal, and almost got tossed…before Jerry Manuel jumped into the electric chair for him and got the heave-ho.

Jose Reyes still does not look great at the plate, and he needs to hit more grounders, but I will take the homers while they come. Reyes seems to always play well at Yankee Stadium with that short porch in right, although that shot tonight was gone in any park.

Reyes was thrown out at third in the top of the 4th after getting caught in a rundown. We have now seen Reyes make a few baserunning mistakes in the last couple of weeks.

Perez deserves a lot of credit, and it seems he has gotten out of his tailspin for good. As long as Perez is with the Mets every start he makes will be a crapshoot, but I think he is at least back to his form from last year, when the bad starts were few and far between.

Great win for the Mets. A lot of people say the Subway Series has lost its luster. Some have even said they should just dump it. I would be furious if that happened, because I personally still love it. It gets the juice of the city up, and can really help revive a struggling team. Or in the case of the Yankees, the series can sink you even further. even though it was only two games, it pumped me up again for a team that I had been pretty down on for 2 weeks.

Now we MUST take care of business in the House of Horrors, aka Turner Field. We need to win at least 2 of the 4 games, but 3 out of 4 would be awesome.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 18th, 2008 at 9:29 pm and is filed under Oliver Perez, Ryan Church, Jose Reyes, Moises Alou, Chien-Ming Wang, Carlos Delgado, The Usual. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.