Steve here for the weekend coffee. I can't, for the life of me, have predicted the Mets would win their eighth straight game (seventh straight on the road) in shutout fashion at Yankee Stadium to earn an early clinch of at least a tie in the Subway Series about a month ago. But ... well, here we are.
↵Hisonori Takahashi (6-2 with the win) was absolutely fabulous tonight for the Metropolitans. Threw six shutout innings for the second consecutive outing vs. the Yankees, and got out of a couple of jams when he truly needed to. Pedro Feliciano was terrific out of the bullpen, getting Derek Jeter to ground out meekly to end a threat Francisco Cervelli started with a leadoff double. In fact, the Yankee bats came up flaccid at every big moment tonight (0-for-9 with runners in scoring position), whether against Takahashi or the Bullpen.
↵The Mets offense hustled out a run in the first inning when David Wright doubled with two outs, then Ike Davis followed suit to knock in Wright in a close play at the plate. Javier Vasquez (6-6 with the loss) was great for the rest of his outing, at one point going 14 batters in a row without giving up a baserunner. He finished after seven innings, and gave way to the only element of the Yankees that might be more suspect than their Met counterparts ... the bullpen.
↵Chan Ho Park walked #9 hitter Ruben Tejada and paid for it dearly. Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan followed with consecutive doubles to make it 3-0 Mets. Reyes singled home Jeff Francoeur in the 9th to give K-Rod (Save #16) all the necessary insurance. Amazin' Avenue and Pinstripe Alley have more, as 9-game winners Mike Pelfrey and Phillip Hughes do battle later today.
↵Elsewhere:
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- Division Watch '10!: The Mets continue to play great baseball and get unlucky (Braves win again, Mets remain 1/2 game out in the NL East), while the Yanks continue to play poorly and get help (Rays lose again, Yanks still tied for tops in the division, however, the Red Sox are all of a sudden only two back in the loss column after beating the Dodgers). ↵
- At the World Cup, the U.S. came back from two goals down to tie Slovenia, 2-2. New Jersey native (and coach's son) Michael Bradley nailed the equalizer. England tied Algeria 0-0, so the Americans control their destiny going into the final match of group play, Wednesday vs. the Algerians. A win and they're through to the round of 16, a tie and they need a ton of help, a loss and they're out. Serbia shocked Germany with a 1-0 win in other World Cup action. Devils forward Patrik Elias gives his thoughts on vuvuzelas and other soccer stuff. ↵
- Despite Cappie Pondexter's 22 points, the Liberty fell to Seattle, 92-84. Sue Bird led the Storm with 24 points, while Lauren Jackson brought down 12 rebounds. ↵
- The Red Bulls are choosing to get in some form of game action in Harrison during the MLS' World Cup hiatus. They lost 4-2 to Brazilian side Cruzeiro at Red Bull Arena. Juan Pablo Angel and Conor Chinn scored for Metro. Meanwhile, Tony Parker (yes, that one) may have let the Thierry Henry cat out of the bag. ↵