The Knicks will try to do the impossible tonight

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Pretty much everyone and his or her mother is under the impression that the Knicks have no chance to defeat the Miami Heat tonight at American Airlines Arena. However, the NBA has decided to lift the hopes of Knicks fans and play the game anyway. Of course, it’s at the same time as the Rangers game because I’m apparently in the only human on Earth who cares about both teams, so I won’t be watching most of this one.

Despite that, I am excited about the prospect of a Game 6 at Madison Square Garden, no matter how slim that prospect may be. Remember, there were times when Dillon Gee was not considered a good prospect, and now he’s a less-than-horrible major league pitcher. My favorite bit of news about the basketball game is that Toney Douglass is likley to get significant playing time. I’ve been a big proponent of Toney’s since he was drafted, and even though he has fallen out of favor with both Mike D’Antoni and Mike Woodson, I’m still on team Toney.

Douglas will be coming off the bench tonight, but he really should be starting. I know Bibby is more of a “pure” point guard, but Douglas has such a large advantage in the defense department. Really, both guys are pretty lousy at offense. Why not start the guy that is actually good at something? Probably because of seniority. I have a lot of respect for Mike Bibby and most veteran players, but let’s try to get the best guys on the court tonight, shall we?

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Tonight the Rangers play Game 6 in Washington

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Aaron Yorke


As Outasight says, tonight is the night is the night for the New York Rangers. Win, and the Blueshirts move on to the next round, where they would play the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals, just like in 1994. Lose, and it’s back to the Garden for a nerve-wracking Game 7.

The good news is that the Rangers have been playing every game like it’s Game 7, and it’s not as though winning on the road is the hardest thing to do in the NHL. Another advantage, says Joe Fortunato of Blueshirt Banter, is that the Rangers have the all important and mythical momentum.

For the most part, the NHL playoffs is an event dictated by a series of momentum swings. I’ll take you back to HBO 24/7 when John Tortorella talked about hockey and he said something along the lines of: “The team that doesn’t have the momentum is trying to get it as fast as they can, and the team that has it is trying to hold onto it for as long as they can.”

The Rangers will no doubt be doing all they can to hold onto the momentum they gained at the end of Game 5. I hope that for the Capitals, getting the momentum back is as difficult as getting that last Metroid back was for Samus in Super Metroid.

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The Mets come back again, defeat Phillies 7-4

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Those amazing Mets did it again. They overcame a 4-0 deficit this time, and came from behind to win 7-4. It’s already the second time the Mets have won a series in Philadelphia this season, and they’ve now won four games in a row overall.

New York starter Miguel Batista was pretty lousy, but he settled down in time for the Mets bullpen and some clutch hitting to save the day. Check out the recap I wrote for The Daily Stache.

Here’s the box score.

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Catcher Rob Johnson is on his way to Philadelphia

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Update: It turns out Johnson had a big hit of his own last night to help the Buffalo Bisons to a 4-3 victory over the Gwinnett Braves. There are so many heroes on this team, they’ll have to form their own super group like the Avengers. I think Valdespin should be Iron Man because of his brash attitude and… never mind. Just try to get a series win tonight, fellas.

Original post: Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reported just a few minutes ago that Rob Johnson is on his way to Philadelphia today and will likely take Josh Thole’s place on the Mets 25-man roster.

Thole suffered a blow to the head last night when he tagged out Ty Wigginton on a close play at the plate. It’s still not official that Thole is going to be placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list, but that appears very likely at this point.

Rob Johnson actually spent all of last season in the major leagues with the San Diego Padres. In 199 plate appearances, Johnson hit .190/.259/.285 in 2011 and the year before that, in Seattle, he hit an identically dreadful .191/.293/.281 in 209 PAs. At least in Buffalo this season, Johnson has managed to hit .291/.317/.491 in 55 at-bats with two walks, six strikeouts and a pair of home runs.

Regardless of very mild Triple-A success, Johnson should only play when Mike Nickeas needs a rest. The way Nickeas stepped up and hit a big double against Jonathan Papelbon last night showed that it is his time to shine. Of course, it would be Nickeas’ time to shine even if he struck out against Papelbon, but the double will make us feel a little better about the situation.

In other lineup news, Jordany Valdespin will get the start at shortstop today. It will be interesting to see if him and Nickeas can continue playing well after last night’s heroics.

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Mets Monday night aftermath

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

While I was in a euphoric mood last night, I didn’t mention the heroic play that catcher Josh Thole made in the 5-2 Mets win over Philadelphia. With runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Mets pitcher Bobby Parnell got Phillies second baseman Freddy Galvis to chop a ball weakly back to the mound. Former Met Ty Wigginton came charging down the third baseline, so Parnell went home with the ball and got it to Thole just in time.

Thole managed to get the tag on Wigginton for a crucial out, but he also slammed his head on Wigginton’s shoulder. Although Wigginton made the relatively safe play and slid into home plate instead of trying to railroad Thole, there was still a massive impact on Thole’s head. The catcher went to the ground for a bit, but was eventually able to walk off the field on his own. The Mets would get the runs needed to win the game the next inning when rookie Jordanny Valdespin hit a dramatic two-out, three-run homer off of Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon.

We still don’t know if Thole has a concussion or not, but he is being taken to New York for evaluation and will not be available for tonight’s game. In the last collective bargaining agreement, a special seven-day disabled list was created for head injuries like this one, so I suspect Thole will go on that and the Mets will bring a catcher up from Triple-A. Right now, it’s looking like Lucas May or Rob Johnson will backup Mike Nickeas tonight.

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It doesn’t get much better than this

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

At least from a sports fan’s perspective, tonight was as awesome as a night could get. First Brad Richards saved the Rangers from certain defeat by nudging the puck past Washington goaltender Braden Holtby and defenseman John Carlson with six seconds left in regulation time. With 21 seconds to go, Washington’s Joel Ward accidentally whacked Carl Hagelin in the face with his stick. The resulting double minor allowed the Rangers to create a six-on-four advantage (with goalie Henrik Lundqvist on the bench) that led to the equalizer.

Just a couple of minutes later, Jordany Valdespin came up for the Mets with two runners on and a tie score in the top of the ninth inning. Valdespin had just been sent down the day before to make room for medicore relief pitcher D.J. Carrasco, but he was called back up once regular shortstop Ruben Tejada was forced to the disabled list with a strained quad.

Now in a pinch-hitter role against Philadelphia reliever Jonathan Papelbon, Valdespin golfed an 0-1 breaking ball over the right field wall for his first major league hit, his first major league home run and a place in the hearts of Mets fans everywhere. The Mets went on to win 5-2, as their own closer, Frank Francisco, managed to close the door on Philly.

The miracles were not over yet. In the first two minutes of overtime, with Washington still trying to kill off the Ward double minor, John Mitchell won a face-off in the attack zone to get the puck to Marc Staal. Stall ripped a shot that deflected off of a Capital player and over Holtby’s shoulder into the back of the net to give New York an improbable victory.

Unbelievable. What really looked like a dreadful night for both the Rangers and Mets turned into complete ecstasy. Nights like this don’t come around very often, so I’m going to try to savor it. More on these games (and hopefully an update on Josh Thole’s condition) in the morning.

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The Mets are already back in Philadelphia

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Aaron Yorke


Yes, the Mets are already headed back to Philadelphia after winning two out of three games at Citizens Bank Park back in April. This time, though, the Phillies will lead with their ace on the hill and Roy Halladay will likely be out for redemption after giving up eight runs in only 5.1 innings the last time he started.

It wasn’t even that bad of a start if you look at the peripheral numbers. Halladay struck out five batters and walked just two. He also only gave up one home run. That means that nearly everything Atlanta put into play against him landed in for a hit. The Braves had 12 hits, and Halladay only recorded 11 outs that weren’t strikeouts, so the BABIP against Halladay that day was over .500. That’s not likely to happen again.

Mets starter Jon Niese is also coming off a lousy start. Last week in Houston, he allowed a pair of home runs that allowed the Mets to fall behind 5-0 in the first two innings. Niese might have been able to recover, but manager Terry Collins decided to pinch hit for him in the top of the fourth to try to give the offense a boost. That didn’t work, but Niese is pitching against an easier opponent tonight, so hopefully he’ll get back on track.

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Rangers must find ways to penetrate Washington defense tonight

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Here we go again. The New York Rangers and Washington Capitals return to Madison Square Garden tonight for Game 5 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semifinal series. Just like in the quarterfinals, the Rangers find themselves tied at two games a piece after four games. Although the Rangers lost the one game advantage they had gained by winning the overtime marathon that was Game 3, they still have two home games left compared to Washington’s one.

Against Ottawa, New York got away with losing Game 5 and was able to come back to win the series, but no one wants to tempt fate again. Getting shots through the Capitals defense and onto goalie Braden Holtby will be key. Bergen Record reporter Andrew Gross did some research on the Rangers shots on goal numbers for the series. Outside of the triple overtime Game 3, New York has only averaged 20.1 shots on goal against Holtby.

“If we looked and we had 40 shots, maybe we’d get frustrated,” Rangers center Brad Richards said. “But we haven’t done that. I don’t think he’s had to stand on his head too often.”

The Capitals have done a great job protecting Holtby by blocking 105 of the Rangers’ 271 total shot attempts. One way to get more shots on goal might be to take advantage when there are fewer Caps on the ice. Joe Fortunato over at Blueshirt Banter discusses the frustrating New York powerplay.

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Mets are getting calls about Bobby Parnell

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Over the weekend, Boston Globe writer Nick Cafardo reported that Bobby Parnell is in demand. The 27-year-old right hander has been very effective so far this season and there are a lot of teams out there with injured or just lousy relief pitchers.

Teams are looking to see whether the Mets would deal Bobby Parnell and whether the Royals would give up a good arm such as Jonathan Broxton (though they’d have to receive his permission, since he was signed as a free agent and otherwise couldn’t be moved until after June 15).

Over at The Daily Stache, I wrote about why the Mets should not trade Parnell. Mostly it’s because he’s good and cheap and he still will be on the team in the foreseeable future.

With Parnell, the Mets have a pitcher in his prime who doesn’t hit free agency until 2016. If given a reasonable extension, the Mets can have him on the team for the next five or six years. After Francisco’s contract runs out, he’ll likely be named the team’s closer. With Parnell handling the ninth inning, the Mets would have a decent closer as well as some extra money in their pockets that they wouldn’t have to spend on an expensive free agent closer. That’s as long as Parnell doesn’t get traded this summer.

Head over to the Stache if you want to check out the rest of the article.

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Mets get good pitching this weekend, also a pair of wins

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Friday night’s bullpen collapse and 5-4 loss to Arizona couldn’t have been very good for Mets morale, but over the course of the next two days, the scraptastic New York club picked itself up and earned a pair of victories. Much of the credit goes to some superb starting pitching.

It’s easy to get sick of analysts rambling about how the ace of a pitching staff is big and macho and how he is supposed to stop a losing streak in its tracks. Rational people like myself know that a starting pitcher doesn’t really play better when his team has lost a bunch recently, but Johan Santana was really good on Saturday afternoon in a streak-stopping 4-3 victory.

“We won and that’s the most important thing,” said Santana, whose 2.61 ERA doesn’t match his 1-2 record. “I wanted to help and somehow stop it and give our team a chance to win and that’s all I was doing. I was going inning by inning, trying to keep the score there and trying to compete and get ahead.”

Santana pitched seven innings with five strikeouts, one walk and three runs allowed while throwing 74 of 108 pitches for strikes. Arizona struck first on a Ryan Roberts solo home run in the second inning, but just like on Friday, the Mets scored four runs in an inning. This time New York turned the trick in the fourth, as Mike Nickeas and Andres Torres both hit two-RBI singles to put the Metsies on top.

Although Arizona would get a pair back in the top of the fifth on a Paul Goldschmidt double, Santana only allowed one baserunner in the next two innings, and Bobby Parnell combined with Frank Francisco to preserve the Mets lead until the end. Despite not factoring into any of the run scoring, Daniel Murphy was the star on offense with four singles in four at-bats. He was very humble about it, though.

“That’s a bonus for me. We’re trying to get wins around here,” Murphy said, according to MetsBlog contributor Amit Badlani. “We end up winning 95 ballgames and end up in the playoffs, everybody’s going to get a piece of it. Johan’s day today, Torres had the big hit that drove in some runs, Turner had a nice day. So, it was nice.”

No extra base hits for the Mets on Saturday, but they did enough early on to get rid of young Arizona starter Patrick Corbin quickly. The southpaw walked two, struck out two and allowed five hits. He was charged with all four runs, but left the game after Nickeas singled with the bases loaded to make the score 2-1 with one out in the fourth. Josh Collmenter came on and let up the Torres single.

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