Mets fight off Phillies on wild Saturday night

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Todd Frazier got tossed after getting hit by Jake Arrieta

The New York Mets (40-49) held on for a tense 6-5 victory over the division-rival Philadelphia Phillies (46-43) on Saturday night at Citi Field. The two teams will meet in the series rubber match on Sunday afternoon in what will be the final game before the four-day MLB All-Star Game break.

In a nationally televised game delayed for 40 minutes at the outset thanks to thunderstorms in the area, neither starting pitcher looked good in this one. Jake Arrieta was simply awful on the mound for the Phillies, only getting into the 5th inning thanks to some poor Mets base running and their failure to cash in on early opportunities.

Noah Syndergaard continued to show that his 2019 version may still look like ‘Thor’, but he is not overpowering anyone with the thunder bolts from his right arm.

The two pitchers allowed 10 runs through the first five innings. Syndergaard was touched for a pair of home runs in the top of the 2nd, a blast to right by Jay Bruce and another to left off the bat of Maikel Franco.

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Things got a bit testy in the bottom of the 5th, and then the Mets finally cashed in against Arrieta, who had dodged trouble a couple of times. The Phillies righty hit Mets third baseman Todd Frazier with one out. Frazier took offense, barking at Arrieta the entire way down to first base as home plate umpire Tripp Gibson warned both benches.

Saturday night's alright for fighting between NL East rivals

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Phillies try to overcome Thor in Saturday night fight in Queens

The Philadelphia Phillies (46-42) exploded for five runs in the top of the 9th inning to pull away from the host New York Mets (39-49) for a 7-2 victory on Friday night.

With the win, the Phillies once again find themselves in control of an NL Wildcard playoff slot.

The victory was a sixth straight for the Phillies over their division rivals. By winning just two of the remaining eight games between the two teams this season, the Phillies will capture the season series between them for the first time since 2011.

It is possible that those two wins could come with the final two games in this weekend series at Citi Field. The first of those comes with Saturday night’s contest pitting veteran right-hander Jake Arrieta against the Mets golden-maned ‘Thor’, right-hander Noah Syndergaard.

The host Mets have dropped nine of their last 11 contests and have not enjoyed a winning record since sitting at 16-15 all the way back on May 2. Despite their fourth place standing, the Mets generally are a tough opponent. They have lost 22 games by just one or two runs, and have been the victims of a half-dozen walkoff defeats.

Phillies open final series before MLB All-Star break

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Jacob deGrom takes the mound vs the Phillies on Friday night

The Philadelphia Phillies (45-42) pay a visit to Citi Field in Queens to take on the host New York Mets (39-48) on Friday night. This weekend’s three-game set between the two NL East Division rivals will be the final series before Major League Baseball takes a four-day break for next week’s All-Star Game.

Both teams enter this series cold. The Phillies have dropped four of their last six games, losing two of three to both the Marlins and Braves. The Mets have dropped eight of their last 10 games.

These two teams began the season with what appeared to be legitimate division title possibilities. In fact, in late April the Mets were in first place and the Phillies on their tails in second.

A losing 13-15 was followed by a rough 10-18 June month for New York. The Phillies bolted past them, and actually controlled the division lead for all but seven games through late May. However, both teams were not only passed, but are getting left in the dust by the defending division champion Braves. And now the Washington Nationals have also passed them both.

The Mets season appears to already be over. There are just too many teams to climb over to get into playoff position, and they have struggled with too many injuries and too much inconsistency. The losing campaign could yet cost manager Mickey Callaway his job.

For the Phillies, there is a near desperation to win this series and remain in the NL Wildcard playoff hunt. They now sit a half-game off that pace. If they can duplicate what happened just 10 days ago, when the Phillies swept out the Mets in a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park, it would be a major shot in the arm heading into the break.

Slumping Phillies visit struggling Mets prior to MLB All-Star break

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Phillies visit Citi Field just prior to the 2019 All-Star break

It was just 10 days ago that the Philadelphia Phillies (45-42) season was on life support. Seven straight defeats and losses in nine of their previous 10 games had dropped the club to just a game over the .500 mark.

Turned out the temporary cure at that time was arriving at Citizens Bank Park in the form of the New York Mets, a club perhaps struggling even more than the Phillies.

Now here we are, a week and a half later, and the Phillies season appears to once again have relapsed. Since that visit to South Philly by the Mets, the Phillies have dropped two of three games to both the last-place Miami Marlins and first-place Atlanta Braves.

The Phillies are not only looking up at the Braves in the NL East standings, they are also now trailing behind the Washington Nationals by a game in the loss column. This marks the first time all season that the Phillies have fallen below second place in the division. In fact, they have now also slipped out of even an NL Wildcard playoff slot.

Could the Mets once again prove to be just what the Phillies need to feel a bit rejuvenated heading into next week’s four-day MLB All-Star Game break? As this weekend before that Mid-Summer Classic break begins, the Phillies will visit Flushing, Queens for three games at Citi Field.

The Mets slipped to fourth place in the division back on June 19 and have been stuck there ever since. They are coming off a split in their two-game Subway Series match-up with the New York Yankees and had the day off on Independence Day. Losers of eight of their last 10, the Mets have not won three games in a row since mid-May.

NEW YORK METS

TOP LINEUP THREATS

Michael Conforto: 26-year-old right fielder slashing .247/.361/.477 with 16 homers, 32 extra-base hits, 43 RBIs, 47 runs.

Jeff McNeil: 27-year-old left fielder slashing .349/.411/.516 with 7 homers, 31 extra-base hits, 35 RBIs, 38 runs.

Amed Rosario: 23-year-old shortstop with 9 homers, 42 RBIs, 36 runs.

Todd Frazier: 33-year-old third baseman with 11 homers, 34 RBIs, 27 runs over just 236 plate appearances.

Wilson Ramos: 31-year-old catcher slashing .275/.348/.414 with 9 homers and 41 RBIs played with Phillies in late 2018.

Yankees find life as C.C. Sabathia turns back the clock

Sabathia gem helps cut Yankees ALCS deficit in half

The New York Yankees were in desperate shape entering Game Three of the 2017 American League Championship Series.

The Yanks trailed the Houston Astros by two games to none in the best-of-seven series. A loss back home in the Bronx would put them in an almost impossible 3-0 hole.

Manager Joe Girardi handed the ball to 37-year old, 17-year veteran C.C. Sabathia for the pivotal starting assignment on the mound.

Sabathia delivered, and then some. He would shut out the tough Houston lineup for six innings over which he threw 99 pitches. The big lefty surrendered just three hits, walked four, and struck out five batters in what he described as a "smoke and mirrors" performance per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.

Despite his age, there is no one his team would have wanted more in that position. Per Hoch, Sabathia is now 10-0 with a 1.69 ERA in 13 starts following a Yankees loss during the 2017 regular season and postseason.

"Obviously you want to go out and have a good performance in the playoffs and give us a chance to get back in the series. Hopefully we did that tonight. We can come out tomorrow, swing the bats and score some more runs." ~ Sabathia, per Hoch

Swing the bats they did last night as well. The Bronx Bombers came out bombing early and often against Houston starter Charlie Morton. The veteran right-hander yielded seven earned runs on six hits and two walks over just 3.2 innings of work.

Todd Frazier got it started in the bottom of the second inning. The former Little League World Series hero reached out and poked a three-run homer just over the right field wall. That blast got the offense rolling in what would become an eventual 8-1 Yankees victory.

The Yankees empire strikes back

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GM Brian Cashman working to improve the Yanks

It has now been almost five years since the New York Yankees last captured an American League East Division crown. There has been just one World Series championship in the Bronx in the last seventeen years.

While the majority of MLB fan bases would be fine with their team having won a division title as recently as five years ago and a world championship just eight years ago, this isn’t most teams.

The New York Yankees are supposed to be the gold standard of Major League Baseball. The franchise has captured 27 World Series titles, sixteen more than the next highest club. They have won 40 American League pennants.

The two decades between 1994 and 2002 were particularly spectacular for the Yankees. The team finished in first place in the AL East in 14 of those 19 seasons. They won the AL pennant and advanced to the Fall Classic seven times, winning the World Series five times.

But over the last four full seasons, the Yanks won between 84 and 87 games. They finished second twice, third once, and then last season had fallen to fourth place in the division.

In those four seasons, there was just one playoff game. The Houston Astros shut the Yankees out 3-0 in the 2015 AL Wildcard Game.

SURPRISE 2017 CONTENDERS

Coming into this season, the Yankees were seen by many as having an aging core. Most had manager Joe Girardi‘s club finishing between 3rd and 5th place in the AL East in this 2017 season. When the team lost four of their first five games, there seemed like nothing was happening to contradict those predictions.

But then the Yankees began to win. Led by tremendous performances from the lineups two youngest members, catcher Gary Sanchez and right fielder Aaron Judge, the club reeled off eight straight victories after that slow start.

The winning came with consistency for the Yankees over the next two months. The new version of the Bronx Bombers spent most of the period between mid-April and late June at the top. At one point, they opened up a four game lead in the division.

In mid-June, however, the Yankees began to slow down. From June 13 through July 19, the team went just 10-22. They plummeted to third place, 4.5 games behind the arch-rival Boston Red Sox, who seemed ready to run away with the division.

But over the last 10 days or so, the Yanks have righted their ship. Following Monday’s 7-3 victory at Yankee Stadium over the visiting Detroit Tigers, the club has won nine of their last 11 games.

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Inspired by his team’s play this year, general manager Brian Cashman decided to do whatever he could to move up their timetable for championship contention.

On July 19, Cashman sent reliever Tyler Clippard and prospects Blake Rutherford, Ian Clarkin, and Tito Polo to the Chicago White Sox. In exchange, slugging third baseman Todd Frazier and a pair of proven relievers in David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle came to New York.

In the last two days, Cashman acted to plug up holes in the starting rotation. First he sent prospect arms Dietrich Enns and Zack Littell to the Minnesota Twins on Sunday for nine-year veteran lefty Jaime Garcia.

And then on Monday’s MLB trade deadline, he landed a big fish. Right-handed starting pitcher Sonny Gray was acquired from the Oakland A’s in exchange for prospects James Kaprielian, Dustin Fowler, and Jorge Mateo.

Marlins would make perfect trade partners for Yankees

Marlins 1B Justin Bour is a perfect fit for Yankees

As the 2017 MLB trade deadline draws nearer, the New York Yankees still appear to have a couple of holes to fill. Over in the National League, the Miami Marlins could make for a perfect trade partner.

The Yanks are treading water of late. They sit with a 50-45 record following games of Friday night, July 21. The Bronx Bombers are 3.5 games behind the arch-rival Boston Red Sox in the AL East race. They control an AL Wildcard spot, but have a pair of teams just two games back.

For much of the season, the Yankees have failed to get reliable offensive production from the first base position. Chris Carter received 208 plate appearances over 62 games, but hit for just a .201/.284/.370 slash line and was released.

Greg Bird began the season as the starter at first, and kept that role through May 1 despite hitting for just a .100/.250/.200 slash line. Then Bird was lost to the DL, and after undergoing ankle surgery, he is likely gone until September.

The Yankees completed a big trade this past week, shoring up their bullpen with the additions of David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle from the Chicago White Sox.

Also acquired in that deal was 31-year old veteran third baseman Todd Frazier. With his arrival, Chase Headley has been moved across the diamond to play first base.

However, the 33-year old Headley has managed just four homers. Only once in his career, all the way back in 2012, as he displayed the type of offensive production that contending teams normally like to see from the first base position.

Another area of potential concern is the starting rotation. The loss of Michael Pineda to Tommy John surgery has created an opening that needs to be filled.

White Sox Potential Winter Meetings Deals

The Chicago White Sox are almost certain to be among the most popular and influential players as the 2016 MLB Winter Meetings unfold in National Harbor, Maryland.

The White Sox went an extremely disappointing 78-84 this past season. That resulted in a fourth place finish in the AL Central Division.

It was a fourth consecutive losing season on the South Side of Chicago. This followed a long run of contention that had spanned the better part of two decades.

Now the White Sox also have to contend for the hearts and attention of fans in a two-team city. The other franchise is, or course, the young and exciting new World Series champion Chicago Cubs.

The White Sox were legitimate division crown contenders in the majority of seasons between 1990 and 2012. They won the AL Central five times in that span, and were the 2005 World Series champions.

In the eyes of most industry talent evaluators, the Chisox minor league talent is among the bottom five in the game. So there is not much help coming from within the organization.

Four of the last five AL pennant winners have come from the division. This includes the defending champion Cleveland Indians. But the AL Central could become very competitive in the next few years.

It is the job of general manager Rich Hahn and VP Ken Williams to make sure that Chicago gets back to that regular contending status. To that end, they are going to have to start replenishing the young talent in the organization.