Wed AM BRB (4-14-21)
This Day in Music (4-14-2015)
American soul singer and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Percy Sledge dies at 74.
Photo Credit: Elsa/Getty Images
After going to war with Mother Nature for the better part of 48 hours, the New York Mets finally played baseball on Tuesday. Despite having two games postponed due to rain, the Mets didn’t miss a beat, sweeping the two seven-inning games against the Philadelphia Phillies. The first contest took eight innings to resolve as the Mets saw an early lead provided by a two-run HR by Dominic Smith erased by a Jean Segura infield single in the top of the 6th. Though the bullpen could not hold the lead, starter Taijuan Walker continued his fast start with 4.1 sharp innings including eight strikeouts. The Phillies were able to take the lead thanks to the new(ish) extra inning rules, but Pete Alonso was able to answer immediately with an single to plate the Mets designated runner, Francisco Lindor, and later in the inning Jonathan Villar knocked in Jeff McNeil with an RBI single of his own to win the game. In game two, Villar picked up where he left off in the fourth inning, once again scoring McNeil and giving the Mets a lead they never relinquished. After having his Sunday start rained out in a debacle that proved the Mets can only go about a week and a half without suffering an episode of incompetence, Marcus Stroman came out with a point to prove Tuesday night. Going six strong, Stroman held the Phillies to no runs and just four hits, lowering his ERA on the young season to a eye-popping 0.75. His strong performance was supported by Mets CF Brandon Nimmo, who built on Villar’s game-breaking single to deliver three hits and three RBI of his own.
The Yankees up-and-down turn through April continued Tuesday night, dropping a boring affair to the Blue Jays, 7-3. Though it feels like we play this game every year with a Yankees franchise that historically sleepwalks through April, it’s frustrating to see the team constantly beat itself with bad base running and sloppy defense. Last night’s big offense came in the top of the 8th, in a situation where the Yankees had found themselves in a rare position to rally. Aaron Hicks, who to his credit recorded three hits in four at bats in his return to the lineup, came to the plate as the tying run with two outs in an inning where the Yanks had already plated two. After a pitch in the dirt by Blue Jays reliever Julian Merryweather, Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez seemed to second-guess his decision to take second base and was caught in an inning-ending run-down. These crippling mental errors and failures in fundamental execution have been the Yankees kryptonite thus far, though outside of Gerrit Cole, the starting pitching hasn’t been much better. Last night’s starter Jameson Taillon was thoroughly below average, lasting 3.2 innings allowing eight hits and five earned runs. Though it’s a bit early to make a judgement, it comes as no great surprise to this writer that the Yankees will inevitably find themselves looking for a reliable Japanese veteran who isn’t walking through that door any time soon. Most keyed-in Yankees fans realized moving on from the devil we knew to two we couldn’t possibly know was not going to be as smooth of a transition as the club wanted fans to believe. This has played out in real time over the first 11 games, as the Yankees have, perhaps predictably, gotten excellence out of Gerrit Cole, a mixed bag from Jordan Montgomery, and pretty awful performances from everybody else.
The Rangers showed they don’t intend to go quietly into the night on Tuesday, keeping faint playoff hopes alive with a resounding 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils. Led by the first shutout in the career of Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers shut the young Devils down with relative ease, emboldened early by a first period goal from Mika Zibanejad. Rangers rising star Adam Fox added two more assists to his ledger, continuing his improbable push towards the Norris Trophy. Need an insurance goal? Panarin is there to convert a beautiful feed from Filip Chytil to give the Blueshirts a well-earned, two-goal cushion in the third period. The Rangers even added a bit of history to the evening when Pavel Buchnevich tossed in an empty-netter to not only seal the game for the Rangers, but give the franchise it’s 20,000th goal. Though the Buffalo Sabres were unable to steal a second point from the Boston Bruins to bolster the Rangers playoff chances, it’s encouraging to see the team take steps in beating teams they, “should,” beat with some consistency. While they need to make a habit out of doing it more often, the Rangers made things look pretty easy for themselves Tuesday night.