Dodgers 5, Mets 1: He performed better than he did against Pittsburgh in his last start, but Oliver Perez was still underwhelming in the Mets' loss in Chavez Ravine. Four days after walking five and retiring five batters in 1 2/3 innings, the lefty allowed three home runs -- no easy task at pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium -- in the series opener. He only walked two and didn't seem to be affected by a Jeff Kent......

Photograph of Rangers coach Tom Renney (rear, center) and other Rangers players after the Penguins knocked them out of the playoffs by Gene J. Puskar/AP Pittsburgh 3 Rangers 2 OT: In the end it was another weird bounce that brought a close to the Rangers’ season. Dan Girardi tried to kick the puck out of the zone and instead of clearing it, deflected it right to Marian Hossa. Hossa deposited it past a surprised......

Photographs of Chien-Ming Wang (left) and Melky Cabrera (right) by Julie Jacobson/AP Yankees 5, Mariners 1: Things Chien-Ming Wang does that other pitchers don't. Throw strikes (two walks Friday), stay in the game (he thew six innings), keep the ball in the ballpark (only one homer allowed this year) and helps his team win games. Wang is 6-0 and his team is 7-0 in games he has started this season. Friday's effort was vintage......

Photograph of the Rangers and Penguins in a first period fight (three roughing penalties were charged to each team) at Madison Square Garden by Julie Jacobson/AP Pittsburgh 5 Rangers 3: Ryan Hollweg has a fantastic moustache, but his idiotic penalty probably cost the Rangers their season. New York fell behind right out of the gate with Marian Hossa scoring only a minute into the game. The Rangers tied things up, but Pittsburgh went ahead......

Mets 4 Braves 3: It was a big third inning that propelled the Mets past the Braves on Saturday. Down 2-0 entering the frame, Endy Chavez and David Wright singled with one out to get things going. Carlos Beltran doubled to bring them both home and tie the game with Ryan Church adding a triple for the go-ahead run. John Maine clamped down from there, striking out seven and the bullpen brought the game home.......

Mets 4 Phillies 2: The Mets pulled out the win thanks to a home run by Jose Reyes and some nifty relief work from Aaron Heilman. Heilman came in with the bases loaded and only one out in the eighth and allowed only one run to give the Mets a 4-2 margin heading into the ninth. Billy Wagner took things from there with a perfect ninth. David Wright had 2 RBI’s and 2 hits in......

Photograph of the Devils' Paul Martin, left, and Rangers' Sean Avery, right, go flying over Devils goalie Martin Brodeur by Bill Kostroun/AP Rangers 5 Devils 3: This was an epic clash to end the series. After the Devils jumped out to a 1-0 lead, the Rangers scored the next four goals, taking control of the game and leading 4-1 with about fifteen minutes left in the second period. But the Devils stormed back with......

Above photograph of Mets manager Willie Randolph (center) with Jackie Robinson's widow Rachel (left) and daughter Sharon (right) and below photograph of Governor David Paterson throwing the ceremonial first pitch of the game by Kathy Willens/AP Mets 6 Washington 0: It was a great day and night at Shea. During the day, Rachel Robinson, Jackie’s widow, toured the Jackie Robinson Rotunda at Citi Field and described it as “walking into a cathedral in a......

Devils 4 Rangers 3 (OT) : Sometimes the puck just bounces the right way for you and that is exactly what happened for the Devils Sunday. New Jersey got the win they had to have thanks to a very lucky bounce. John Madden made a smart play, throwing the puck at the crease and it deflected off of Marc Staal’s skate and into the net. It was the second good bounce for New Jersey, who......

Photograph of keepsake box by Tien Mao; it seems Mets 2008 season ticket plan holders received them with the tickets Like the Yankees, the New York Mets are planning a move to a new stadium. While Shea Stadium is not as storied as Yankee Stadium (the Post says, "It's ugly, sterile and horribly outdated..."), the Mets have enjoyed two very memorable championships there. Today, the NY Times wrote about William Shea, "He laughed when......

Mets 13 Marlins 0: The game is the good news as the Mets pounded out 17 hits against Florida in an easy win. Ryan Church got it started with a home run in the second and David Wright also added his first shot of the year. Oliver Perez looked very good, striking out eight over six innings. The bad news came from Pedro Martinez who is out 4-to-6 weeks with what is being described as......

Photo of Johan Santana pitching against the Marlins by AP/J. Pat Carter The rain that postponed the Yankees' regular-season opener was nowhere to be found in South Florida, where the Mets disposed of the Marlins, 7-2, to start their eagerly awaited 2008 campaign. Johan Santana, living up to the trade and subsequent contract extension that made him a Met, struck out eight in seven innings of two-run ball. David Wright's three-run double capped a......

Photo of Carlos Beltran rounding third after a two-run home run against the White Sox in the Civil Rights Game by AP/Bill Waugh Few players can catapult a team from worriers to prohibitive favorites, but Johan Santana can put his name on that list. Before the Mets got him, they and their fans were looking over their shoulders to the Phillies and Braves. Now the team is almost overloaded with optimism. That hope --......

Johan Santana got traded to the Mets about two weeks before the start of spring training, but his face popped up more in the Mets offseason than anyone else's. This was a great way for the Mets to take the attention off the dreadful collapse they suffered at the close of the 2007 season. Before the Mets reported to camp, they had something positive to talk about rather than the evaporation of a seven-game lead......

The Mets introduced Johan Santana, their newest player and best attempt at getting back to the World Series, in Flushing yesterday. Just last week, the Mets and Santana agreed to a six-year $137.5 million contract that makes the Mets a favorite in the National League. Scores of press were on hand for the introduction, as well as David Wright, Omar Minaya, owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon, and Willie Randolph. Before his official introduction, the Mets......

The new season of the Apprentice premiered on Thursday with its celebrity (or "celebrity" - if you consider Omarosa from the Apprentice's Season 1 a celebrity) twist. The show received its best ratings in two years, winning the 9PM timeslot for viewers ages 18-49. The Donald said, "I was really happy. I wasn't expecting this." We missed watching it, but NBC offers episodes online - you can see the premiere here - so we......

If Barry Melrose ever goes to Newark, he probably won't be getting a warm reception. Melrose, a hockey analyst for ESPN and a former player and manager, said some disparaging words about the city of Newark when talking about the new Devils arena on his webcast last week. Melrose said, "It looks great on the inside but don't go outside, especially if you got a wallet or anything else because the area around the building......

For a team used to making miracles, conjuring up a disaster had an especially bitter taste. With a sloppily played 8-1 loss to Florida and the Phillies' 6-1 win against the Nationals, the Mets' season ended about a month too early. The loss capped an agonizing stretch of two and a half weeks in which the Mets played some of the worst teams in the National League and still played their worst baseball of......

A few months ago, a more unlikely scenario could not be imagined. The Yankees are barreling into the playoffs after recovering from one of the team's worst season starts in franchise history. The Mets, on the other hand, are staggering towards the end of the season having lost five straight and 11 of their last 15 games. A seemingly insurmountable lead in their division has been whittled to second place behind the Phillies, and the......

Marlins 7, Mets 4: Who thought this bad dream would last this long? Needing a quality start from Oliver Perez to stop their bleeding, the Mets instead got a vintage -- as in 2005 -- effort in their fifth straight loss. Not even Byung-Hyun Kim could play the platelet to the Mets' open wound. The Marlins righty kept the Mets in check, and Oliver Perez lost control at the most critical points. Even David Wright,......

Mets 7, Marlins 6 (11 innings): A third straight win has pushed thoughts of panic to the back burner. Philadelphia lost, meaning the Mets' lead is 2 1/2. Stranger things have happened, but the Mets have buckled up in the driver's seat in the National League East. Please support David Wright for the MVP award. He put the team ahead in the 11th after another poor performance from the relievers. That bullpen still has to......

Mets 8 Nationals 4: Boy did they need this one. With the division lead down to 1-1/2 games, the Mets could not afford to get swept by Washington and they showed some fight Wednesday night, by getting a game they had to have. And, perhaps best of all, the Phillies lost in extra innings, putting the division lead back at 2-1/2 games. Moises Alou shook off an injury and provided three hits and a......

Yankees 8, Red Sox 7: Everything looked good for the Red Sox as they were playing last night's game. They were up 5.5 games on the Yankees and about to make it 6.5 when the top of the 8th came around and everything went south. Down by 5 runs, the Yankees scored 6 runs in the inning before making a single out. They started the scoring with back-to-back solo home runs by Jason Giambi......

Mets 3 Braves 2: The Mets have chosen an opportune time to get hot. Not only are they bounding closer to their second-consecutive division crown (a first for the franchise) they are putting an end to the Braves’ playoff hopes. Oliver Perez improved to 4-1 against Atlanta this season, throwing seven strong innings allowing only two runs and striking out seven. David Wright continued his quest to become a 30-30 player with his 28th home......

Yankees 11, Royals 5: Good thing the Yankees didn't make that Alex Rodriguez for Ervin Santana move this offseason. Rodriguez hit two homers -- Nos. 50 and 51 -- as the Yankees cruised past the Royals. Detroit beat Seattle again, so the wild-card lead stands at three games. Johnny Damon, who looked like a corpse for most of the season, has played better of late. He socked his 10th homer as the Yankees gave plenty......

Mets 3 Braves 2: Some people may question Willie Randolph’s managing, but they had better give him credit for this weekend. After a dismal sweep at the hands of the Phillies, the Mets responded in a huge way, sweeping their archrival in Atlanta. Tom Glavine contributed at both ends, driving in the first run of the game and allowing only one run in six innings. David Wright added his 25th home run of the year,......

Mets 5 Dodgers 2: Omar has to be smiling about the Oliver Perez trade. Yes, Xavier Nady is a nice outfielder, but Perez is developing into something special. He showed this ability before, in 2004, but after that he was bad enough to get traded away by Pittsburgh. Now, he is averaging almost a strikeout an inning and is second on the Mets with 12 wins. Friday night, Perez pitched seven shutout innings and out-pitched......

Red Bulls 5, Galaxy 4: Giants Stadium fills up for plenty of events, but Red Bulls games don't usually rank among those. Saturday's did, if only because David Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy was in town. Those fans, who were there for Beckham and not the Galaxy, found another rare treat: goals in a Major League Soccer game. Soccer doesn't need frequent scores to be exciting, but the rare 5-4 game never hurt anyone. Not......

Tigers 8 Yankees 5: Detroit is a great offensive team and the question the Yankees have to answer is, can their pitching stand up to a great offensive team? In the first of eight games against Detroit, the answer was a resounding no. The Tigers knocked around Mike Mussina for seven runs (six earned) in five innings of work. The Yankees had some chances, getting fifteen runners on base, but couldn’t mount a sustained rally......

Mets 10 Pirates 8: What should have been a laugher became a little too close for comfort two different times Wednesday night. The Mets jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first, thanks to doubles from David Wright and Carlos Delgado and a home run from Moises Alou, but Pittsburgh crept back into the game. The Pirates scored twice in the second and added single runs in the fourth and sixth to make it......