YANKS DROP HAMMER ON METS AGAIN
Pound El Duque early; Wang stifles NL rivals
Monday, June 18, 2007
BY LISA KENNELLY
Star-Ledger Staff
NEW YORK -- The Yankees and Mets won't meet again this season unless a
World Series berth is in both teams' futures.
The Mets boast a record and a first-place seat in the NL East that make
that possibility a lot more likely than it is for their cross-town
rivals. But at the moment it's the Yankees who are playing like the
playoff team, modest record and 8 1/2 game deficit in the AL East
notwithstanding.
Last night the Yankees hammered the Mets for the second straight game,
this time an 8-2 romp to even the season series between the two teams at
three wins apiece.
The Mets ended the Yankees nine-game winning streak Friday night in the
first game with a 2-0 win, but looked overmatched in the final two
games.
"To come in here, as hot as we were, and to shut us down the way they
did," Yankees manager Joe Torre said, "for us to bounce back in spite of
that makes me feel good about the temperature of this club."
The Yankees took their host series two games to one, and at 35-32 are
three games over .500 for the first time this season. They got home runs
from the red-hot Alex Rodriguez along with Johnny Damon and Jorge Posada
and a dazzling 8 2/3 innings from ace Chien-Ming Wang.
After their 8-1 homestand, the Yankees have an off-day today before
heading on a 10-day, nine-game road trip to Colorado, San Francisco and
Baltimore, the latter two of which have sub-.500 records.
The Mets continued to flounder, dropping their second straight and
seventh in their past eight games and 12th in their past 14. They return
to Shea Stadium today, hoping to get something going against the
Minnesota Twins after a disastrous 2-7 road trip.
"We're going to go home now and try to play better there," Jose Reyes
said. "We just have to be a little tough."
In a stretch of six consecutive series against teams that made the
playoffs last year, it doesn't get any easier for the Mets with series
against the Oakland A's and St. Louis Cardinals ahead.
"We knew we caught them at a bad time," Damon said. "We know we're
playing very well right now. In this game you definitely want to catch
the good teams when they're not producing."
And if the Mets want to turn it around against American League teams,
they'll have to keep better pace with their hitters.
One day after scoring eight runs, the Mets were completely stymied by
Wang's sinker, changeup and biting slider, managing six hits and only
two runs off the Taiwanese right-hander.
Wang, who flirted with a perfect game earlier this season, didn't allow
a hit until the fourth inning, when Reyes singled up the middle on a
full count leading off the inning.
Even then, Reyes didn't last long on the bases, as he was caught
attempting to steal on a pitch out. It was the first time Reyes was
caught stealing this series, after having his way with Yankee pitchers
and nabbing five bases in the first two games.
But yesterday the Yankees finally reined in Reyes' speed, getting him to
ground into a rare 3-6-3 double play with the similarly quick Carlos
Gomez on first.
Wang also struck out Reyes swinging in the top of the eighth on a 3-2
sinker, spinning the shortstop to his knees on the swing. It was one of
a career-high 10 strikeouts for Wang (7-4), who won his fourth straight
start, and has allowed only four runs in his past three outings.
And he did it all with a sore neck from sleeping on it wrong the night
before. Wang received treatment before the game and said it was still
tight afterwards, but that "I felt good enough to pitch."
"He's an incredible talent," Rodriguez said. "To be able to do that
against Reyes, a contact hitter, blow him away with fastballs 3-1, 3-2."
Wang hit 113 pitches with two outs in the ninth when Torre pulled him to
pit Mike Myers against Carlos Delgado.
Orlando Hernandez (3-3) remained winless against his former team, and is
now 0-4 against them with 15 earned runs in 23 2/3 innings. He is
winless in his past three starts this season, with his last win coming
May 31 against San Francisco.
El Duque lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits, walking
one and striking out six. Only some highlight-reel catches by Mets
outfielders saved the damage from being even worse, with Carlos Beltran
and Shawn Green making standout plays on fly balls in the fourth.
But like they did in Saturday's game, the Yankees pecked away at the
Mets starter with runs in the first three innings.
Rodriguez's two-run blast came in the first, with Derek Jeter on base.
El Duque's 2-0 pitch stayed up and Rodriguez crushed it over the
visitor's bullpen in left field for a 2-0 Yankees lead, rounding the
bases to an ovation. It was his major-league leading 27th home run of
the season and eighth homer in his past 14 games.
Lisa Kennelly may be reached at lkennelly@starledger.com.
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