The Yankees and Mets found a fairly unique way to celebrate the closing of their respective stadiums Saturday, doubleheaders for both teams at home. It has happened twice before in 1997 and 1982 with the Yankees splitting both times and the Mets splitting once and being swept once. Saturday’s results fell along historical precedents. In game one of the Yankees series, Tampa pounded New York 7-1. James Shields kept the Yankees off the scoreboard until......

With the amount of love lost between the Patriots and Jets, don't think Eric Mangini and Co. sent a condolence card to Foxborough after Tom Brady's knee got torn apart. But also don't count on the Patriots' rolling over and dying in the 2008 season. They may have lost one of the game's top all-time quarterbacks, but they still have one of the game's all-time coaches in Bill Belichick. Even without the tangible benefits of......

Thanks to FOX, Giants’ fans got a preview of this week’s opponent last Sunday. For some reason, FOX decided to show the Eagles-Rams game in its entirety despite the fact that it was an utter blowout. If you stuck with the game, you saw just how putrid the Rams are. They managed only 8 first downs on offense and surrendered over 500 yards on defense. Add in the fact that the Giants showed that they......

When the first-place Rays and fourth-place Yankees open a three-game series at Yankee Stadium tonight -- weather permitting -- it will mark the final time the team starts a homestand in the old ballpark. A venue that has seen more dramatic moments than any other will be closed with a whimper after 10 more games. The Yankees sit 8 1/2 games out of a wild-card berth, and their "tragic number" -- the number of combined......

Fever 74, Liberty 59: The last time the Liberty and Fever faced off was before the under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center before the Olympic break. In that matchup, the Fever handily defeated the Liberty, 71-55. Even before last night's game, both the Liberty and Fever clinched spots in the upcoming playoffs with playoff seeding as the only thing left to be decided. If New......

Mets 13, Nationals 10: After a game like this, the Mets can sit back and laugh. But during the contest, they could be forgiven for missing the humor. David Wright's two-run homer was one of his four hits and helped the Mets retake the lead after they blew a six-run advantage. Joe Smith got the win in relief for the second night in a row. Mike Pelfrey lasted five innings but allowed five runs and,......

Citi Field will not be going apple picking in Shea Stadium's outfield this fall. The NY Daily News reports that the fancy new ballpark the Mets are moving into next year will get a brand new apple to rise up after the team's home runs in 2009 and beyond. The Mets had been keeping mum on whether there would be a new apple next year, but a team official spilled the beans during a late......

Mets 10, Nationals 8: Oliver Perez pitched as he did in the first half of the season (poorly), and the Mets were in trouble. Manager Jerry Manuel had to turn to his relief corps with only one out in the fourth inning. So what happened? Nelson Figueroa allowed two inherited runners to score, but, after that, the relievers allowed only one run in 5 2/3 innings. Not too shabby. Joe Smith got the win with......

A fan is suing the Mets because he did not get the premium seating he was hoping for on his season tickets for next year. Season ticket holder and celebrity lawyer Judd Burstein says that last year he had reserved "premium seats" at Citi Field similar to the ones he has now on field level along the first base line. But like they did to Fernando Tatis before him, the Mets told Burstein that they......

Jets 20, Dolphins 14: They didn't make it look easy, but the Jets took down the Dolphins to get the Brett Favre era off to a solid, if not resounding, start. Favre, came out of retirement and got traded to the Jets from Green Bay, threw two touchdown passes. The first, to Jerricho Cotchery, was a well-executed play on both ends. The second, to Chansi Stuckey, was not. On a fourth-down desperation play, Favre simply......

Yankees 7, Mariners 4: A big 7th inning helped propel the Yankees to victory against the worst team in the American League. They scored 5 runs in the frame, sending all 9 batters to the plate and giving Sidney Ponson his first win since August 6th. Mariano Rivera pitched 1 1/3 innings for his 33rd save. As the season slowly ticks away, the Yankees continue to hold onto hope. After defeating Seattle on Saturday and......

Photo of Brett Favre during his first pre-season game with the Jets by Bill Kostroun/AP With the Jets in Miami to start their 2008 season, Brett Favre is ready to play football again. After retiring and unretiring -- and reportedly turning down $20 million from the Packers to stay inactive -- Favre forced a trade to the Jets. The Packers legend will face a new test in the green and white of the Jets, but......

Patrick Ewing -- and some faces he probably found familiar -- got his much-deserved Hall of Fame induction Friday night in Springfield, Mass. Among those also being enshrined were Pat Riley, who coached Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon, who won one of his two NBA titles at Ewing's expense. Ewing will partly be remembered for not winning a championship, but any Knicks fan who holds that -- a result that is much to blame on John......

A Jersey Shore man is giving new meaning to the term "five-tool player" after spending the summer hooking up with as many as 100 women because of his resemblance to Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain. Ryan Ward tells the NY Post that after "numerous occasions of my shirt being ripped off," a friend encouraged him to "become (Joba) for the summer." However, Ward took his new found identity too far when cops had to arrest the......

If you have tickets to today's Mets-Phillies game, don't bother heading out to Shea Stadium. The impending arrival of Tropical Storm Hanna has pushed today's game to Sunday at 2:15PM, part of a day-night doubleheader. Tickets for today's game will be honored for the day game. The night game was previously scheduled for an 8:05PM start for ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. Today's postponement gives Jamie Moyer and Pedro Martinez an extra day's rest before they......

Phillies 3, Mets 0: The Mets entered the first game of a three-game series with the Phillies riding the high of a sweep of the Brewers, but were quickly brought back to earth by Brett Myers's pitching. Meyers allowed only three hits over 8 shutout innings of work that included 10 strikeouts, stymieing the Mets for his 4th win in a row. The Phillies got all the offense they needed in the first inning when......

Photograph of Brandon Jacobs rushing during the third quarter by Bill Kostroun/AP Giants 16, Redskins 7: The Giants started their Super Bowl title defense with plenty of good, well, defense. Of course, the Redskins' offense isn't anything to write home about, but the Giants will take seven points and 209 total yards allowed any day of the week. Eli Manning wasn't great (19-of-35, 0 passing touchdowns, one interception), but that doesn't matter. Manning's rushing......

Photo of Eli Manning by AP/Bill Kostroun The Giants may have won 11 games in a row away from the Meadowlands last season, but imagine how good they would have been had they taken care of business at home? They went 3-5 at Giants Stadium and, for a while, their lackluster play in front of the loyal fans appeared as if it would cost the team its chance at the postseason. One of the......

Photographs of Alex Rodriguez hitting a home run, Rodriguez waiting for a ruling on the home run and then the umpire ruling it was was home run from the AP Mets 9, Brewers 2: Wednesday was a good day for the players brought back in the Lastings Milledge deal. Ryan Church and Brian Schneider each went deep in a six-run first inning -- Church hit a grand slam -- as the Mets gave Oliver......

Mets 6, Brewers 5 (10 innings): This game had all the requirements of any contest involving the Mets. No. 1: Take an early lead -- the Mets led, 5-1, by the third inning. No. 2: Throw out a starter from which the team has little idea what to expect. They should have expected little of Jon Niese, who went three-plus innings in his big-league debut and gave back the Mets' lead in the fourth. No.......

Photograph of Johan Santana pitching against the Brewers by Bill Waugh/AP Mets 4 Milwaukee 2: There is a good chance that this series could be a preview of the playoffs so it behooves the Mets to jump on the Brewers and pay them back for a series loss back in April. Johan Santana pitched very well, striking out 10 over six innings, but he left the game losing 2-0. Luckily for the Mets, Brewers’......

Mets 6, Marlins 2: Both times a team in this series suffered a crushing loss, it came back to win the next day. After Friday's deflating loss, the Marlins won Saturday on a walk-off walk. Pedro Martinez helped the Mets in Sunday's rubber game. He turned in six strong winnings, striking out four and walking one. Three solo homers -- from Carlos Beltran, Nick Evans and then David Wright -- helped the Mets erase a......

A payroll of $209 million should at the very least guarantee that a team is in the thick of the playoff race until the very end, but barring a miracle run, the Yankees won’t be. While George Steinbrenner is no longer in charge, the failure of the 2008 Yankees demands someone to be held accountable and fans are well within their rights to expect changes. This space has argued in the past that Brian Cashman......

Marlins 4, Mets 3: Another terrible effort by the Mets' bullpen. Mike Pelfrey lasted 6 2/3 innings and allowed two runs, but the Mets couldn't make it stand up. Ex-Met Mike Jacobs tied the game, 3-3 in the eighth, and then Aaron Heilman walked in the winning run in the ninth. That free pass was the fourth in the inning (two were intentional), but maybe Jerry Manuel would have been better off not loading the......

While a pair of Shea Stadium's seats are being sold at $869 (Mr. Met was shilling them earlier this week and they have been going fast), it looks like seats from Yankees Stadium will be sold at over twice that. According to the NY Post, the city and Yankees are thinking of selling a pair of seats for $1,923. Apparently the Yankees are looking to sell off much of everything from the stadium, and as......

Yankees 2, Blue Jays 1: Well, maybe not. But the healthy -- for now -- Carl Pavano has two wins in his two starts this season. He pitched six innings of one-run ball in front of an appreciative crowd at Yankee Stadium to keep his team within six of the Red Sox in the American League wild-card race. The bad news is that Pavano's peripheral stats aren't so great -- he only struck out one......

Yankees 3, Red Sox 2: To answer the above question: Probably. But for one game -- the last regular-season contest between New York and Boston at Yankee Stadium -- the Yankees showed signs of life. Mike Mussina didn't get his 17th win -- 20 is looking less likely now -- but Jason Giambi picked up his team. He hit a pinch-hit, game-tying, two-run homer in the seventh inning. In the ninth, against Boston closer Jonathan......

Mets 6, Phillies 3: This game takes some air out of the whole "that loss will stay with them for a while" theory. Games don't get that much worse than Tuesday's 8-7, 13-inning loss. But were the Mets really thinking about that when they took the field Wednesday? Maybe. Did it affect them? Not in a bad way. They trailed, 3-2, entering the eighth, but Carlos Delgado hit his second homer of the game......

Phillies 8, Mets 7: How much can the bullpen be blamed in an 8-7 loss that came in a game in which the Mets once held a seven-run lead? Not as much as people would think. Pedro Martinez gave back five of the seven runs he was given -- those tallies came thanks to home runs by Damion Easley and Fernando Tatis -- but was perversely still in line for the win. Luis Ayala, the......

Mets 9, Astros 1: Houston has been a pesky opponent for the Mets all season, but Mike Pelfrey knew how to handle the Astros. He threw his second straight complete game -- he lost the shutout in the ninth -- as the Mets salvaged a split of the four-game series. That's important momentum for a team that goes into a critical three-game series against the Phillies this week. Carlos Delgado homered not once but twice.......