Another victory got away from New York and Florida tied them for third place in the NL East, now taking four straight at Citi Field. The Mets look like the fading team, while the Marlins are making a move in the wild card and their 80- year old manager, Jack McKeon, who took over for Edwin Rodriquez on June 19th has his team at 50-50.

With New York ahead, 3-2 in the ninth and with Jason Isringhausen, who got the loss (2-2) on the mound, John Buck was hit by a pitch that loaded the bases. Pinch hitter Bryan Patterson hit a slow grounder to second base and Turner charged for the ball. Buck would stop in the middle of the base path and Turner tossed the ball to first instead of going for the out at the plate. The ball went past Lucas Duda at first enabling the Marlins to take a 4-3 lead.

“He did an outstanding job of base running,” said Turner about the throw to first and how Buck commanded the base path. “I don’t necessarily think that I made a bad choice, I just made a bad throw,” he said. And to the credit of Turner, a rookie mistake is possible, but in this case it cost the Mets another ballgame and extended their losing streak to four games after winning five straight.

It has epitomized the Mets season. Win a few in a row and then compile a losing streak. Though they have the best road record in the National League, New York still struggles at Citi Field at 22-28. Earlier this season, when New York lost six of seven games in the late innings, also at home, manager Terry Collins said it had to get better. He was not lambasting Turner about the decision Tuesday night about the play to first but offered his opinion.


“When that ball is hit you can’t get two,” he said, also explaining that he talked to his rookie about the play. “You have to go to the plate. I talked to Justin. He knew what he had to do. He just didn’t get it done. We have to make plays because we don’t strike many people out.”

Collins was alluding to his bullpen that gave up the game Monday night. New York has now lost three straight when the winning run was scored in their opponents final at bat, which included the final two games against Washington on the recently completed road trip, and two at home to start the series with Florida.

Chris Capuano pitched six good innings for New York and was the victim of two solo home runs from Omar Infante in the first and fifth innings, both balls going to left field. Infante is not known for the home run ball, now with three on the season. “You have to make the pitches and Infante got me a couple of times,” said Capuano who became the second pitcher in Mets history to start three games against the same opponent in a span of no more than 16 days.

“It’s like they went through that really bad streak and ever since they haven’t let up,” he said about the latest winning ways of the Marlins. Jose Reyes hit his first home run of the season from the right side in the third inning that tied the score at 1-1.

Said Collins about the latest three games, “Three losses in a row, they hurt bad. We now let the Marlins catch us. We let some games slip away when you are fighting for something.”

NOTES: Johan Santana will not make his next rehab start scheduled for Thursday and will see a doctor in New York. The Mets starter, who had off -season left shoulder surgery, is feeling discomfort and it could be a setback to getting him back this season.

“It’s a matter of Johan proceeding at his own pace,” said General Manager Sandy Alderson. Said Collins, “I want this guy on this team, I am disappointed but he knows about pain,” alluding to Santana knowing when it will be the right time to return…

Isringhausen, two saves away from a career milestone 300th, may not be used Wednesday night in game three of the series. The 38-year old veteran, who has become the closer and used more often when Francisco Rodriguez was traded, may be showing some signs of fatigue after a shaky ninth inning that led to the Turner play.
e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

Sabathia, unlike many other pitchers, finds a hot and humid day to be agreeable, “I feel a lot better when it’s hot like that. I don’t have to work as hard to get my arm loose.”

As the ace of the staff, Sabathia is often matched against the ace of the opposing team. He has faced Roy Halladay and Sunday was the second time this year that he faced Johan Santana. This is not something that concerns Sabathia, “I’m not going out facing those guys; I’m facing thee lineups.”

Sabathia, the workhorse of the Yankees starting five, has been a boon to the bullpen. He has pitched at least seven innings and thrown at least 100 pitches in nine of his 15 starts. The starter shut out the Mets during a season-high eight innings, accomplished twice before. He scattered four hits and walked two batters. In only one inning, the seventh, did two batters reach base. Girardi said he considered sending Sabathia out in the ninth as the starter only threw 100 pitches, but “the rain [a 22 minute rain delay] made it easier to make a decision.”

Closer Mariano Rivera retired all three batters he faced in the final inning to keep the shut out intact.

The crucial at bat in the contest was that of Mark Teixeira in the third. After Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher each reached base via a single, Teixeira took a 1-1 pitch from Johan Santana deep into the left field stands for his fifth career grand slam home run.

After the previous day’s Yanks victory, Yankees manager Joe Girardi spoke about Teixeira’s game tying home run, “Maybe this is the start of a long streak.” Although his batting average, .226, has not greatly improved, the Yankees first baseman has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games and scored in 11 of his last 13.

Girardi does not believe Teixeira’s current batting average is reflective of his ability or importance to the club, “He’s such an impactful player. For us, it’s just a matter of time before he gets hot and carries the team.” Girardi also expressed admiration for Teixeira’s calm demeanor and his consistently positive attitude, “His personality is consistent every day. It’s hard to tell what he did. That’s what you like. He’s a very easy player to manage.”

Sabathia, Sunday’s starter, is also impressed by the day’s star batter, “Tex is a pro. I think he knew that at some point he would come out of this [slump].”

The victory of the Yankees coupled with Florida’s defeat of the Tampa Rays gave the Yankees the undisputed first place position in the American League East and the best won/loss record in the majors. Inter-league play will continue next week. The Yankees will be on the West Coast to play the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers before returning to the Bronx to face Seattle on June 29.

Next up, it’s A-Rod and a grand slam home run. That opened up the game and paved the way for the Yankees and starter Andy Pettitte to take the final game of a four-game series, 11-2 from the last place Indians of the AL Central division.

For Rodriguez it was his seventh home run of the season, and 20^th career grand slam. More so he is now 5-for-5 with a walk, three home runs, a sacrifice fly, and has 18 RBI in seven plate appearances after Teixeira has been intentionally walked to load the bases in front of him.

“At 3-0 on Mark, it wasn’t very difficult at all,” said Acta about his decision to walk Teixeira and get to A-Rod in the situation. “We didn’t want to take a chance and wanted to set up a double play possibility with Alex. By the time it got to 3-1, a hitter like Alex knew what was coming and he didn’t miss it.”

And it was a huge home run to deep center field off Cleveland relief pitcher Chris Perez, 590^th of his career. Rodriguez has had the hitter before him intentionally walked to load the bases 16 times in his career and has now hit three home runs in those situations.

“It felt good coming into that situation especially in a close game,” said Rodriguez about the grand slam which followed with a curtain call from the 44,796 sun drenched Memorial Day fans in the Bronx. “One thing I was trying to do was get the job done with men on base,” he said.

A-Rod had a season high three hits and six runs batted in. The six RBI were the most by a Yankee this season. He also had a two-run double to right-center in the eighth inning as the Yankees scored three more runs.

“They’re both getting much closer,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi about Teixeira, his number three hitter and A-Rod at clean-up when it comes to knocking in runs. “When these two guys get it together we put a lot of runs on the board,” he said.

e-mail Rich Mancuso Ring786@aol.com

Apparently none of the turmoil, surrounding the dismissal of Tony Bernazzard, the Director of Player Personnel and Minaya accusing a beat reporter, Adam Rubin of lobbying for Berazzard’s job, has affected the team.  Wilpon addressed the issue before the game with media on the field and then the Mets did their job.

They won another ballgame, and for now, winning for the Mets has become the remedy to put some rest to all of the controversy and soap opera drama that has been a major part of this Mets baseball season.

“We’re just playing better baseball,” said starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey about the Mets current winning streak, their longest since May 25-29.  Pelfrey (8-6) won his third straight start against the Rockies, going 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and three walks, striking out five. He also got out of two bases loaded jams twice retiring Clint Barms in the fourth and sixth innings.

Mets manager Jerry Manuel commented that the players don’t pay attention to what has been going off the field   His focus has been to hopefully see things turn around, with the team that he has. The injured players, in particular Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado continue their rehab programs with hopes they will be back in the lineup soon. At the same time, Manuel hoped for some better baseball and the Mets have responded.

“As his season goes along he eventually gets stronger,” said Manuel about Pelfrey. The meets pitching staff during this streak has a 2.25 ERA.  And before winning games resumed an important part of the lineup, Luis Castillo, continued to stay hot. He went 1-3 and drove in one of the Mets runs, and over the last 18 games has a .543 on base percentage which is the best in baseball.

“The thing about Louie is we have found a way to work around his game,” said Manuel about his second baseman.”He has a lot of energy and confidence.” And that comment stems from how Manuel saw Castillo prepare during spring training, and how Castillo has managed to adjust whether he is placed second or eighth in the batting order.

The Rockies have now lost 20 of their last 22 games against the Mets that go back to Shea Stadium and now Citi Field. And suddenly the Mets with their second straight win over Colorado, are creeping slowly back into the NL wild card race. They picked up two games on the Rockies and trail them by 5/1-2 games in the standings.

And for a change things have been going the Mets way. The hitting has been timely, the pitching respectable, and on the field plays are going their way. An eighth inning play that went to the Mets advantage would not have gone in their favor the past month. Castillo was clearly out at the plate trying to score from second on a hit by Daniel Murphy.

In the four game streak the Mets have not committed an error, another indication as to how, at least for the moment, the tide has turned. Every run scored Tuesday came when the leadoff man got on base.  Daniel Murphy doubled and came around in the second inning. Alex Cora singled in the second and scored, Murphy would walk and score again in the fourth and Castillo walked and scored the Mets final run in the eighth.

Pedro Feliciano got five straight outs in relief, and Sean Green finished it up.  David Wright extended his hitting streak to seven games and Daniel Murphy now has hit in five straight. And the Mets infield handled three double plays, something they could not do right against the lowly Washington Nationals last week.

So everything is going right for the Mets right now, despite the fact one of their big scoreboards in right field out of commission the entire night.  “It feels good to win and that starts with our starting pitching,” said Wright who had two hits.

“Omar made a mistake and he admitted it,” said Wilpon speaking about his embattled GM. “We have to get the guys back on track,” he said about his team.”  It is apparent the Mets are on the right track, at least for the moment. In this season that has provided a little bit of everything but winning, maybe we have seen the last of the unexpected.

Game three of the four games series continues Wednesday evening, 7:10pm at Citi Field  Right hander Jason Hammel (5-5) gets the start for Colorado and Johan Santana (11-8) will get the ball for New York.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

And opponents have come to know that getting a win in the Bronx won’t come easy.

But this time, the Toronto Blue Jays were one of those teams that had an answer to not giving the Yankees another late inning comeback win. The recently acquired Eric Hinske, who hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, struck out swinging ending the game with Cody Ramsom at first.

Toronto took the final game of a four-game series 7-6 and the Yankees headed to Minnesota and Los Angeles for six games before the all-star break. But all was not bad for the Yankees, despite failing in their attempt to sweep the four-game series from Toronto. Overall they got good starting pitching and their bullpen continued to impress during the 5-2 home stand.

“We played well and had a pretty good home stand,” said Manager Joe Girardi who had to watch the outcome of this one from his office after being ejected from the game in the first inning. A Derek Jeter steal attempt at third base went against New York and Jeter began to argue that he wasn’t tagged for the out.

Jeter, who has never been ejected for arguing a disputed call in his career wanted to get an explanation. Girardi also wanted one and third base umpire Marty Foster said it was a force play and required no tag. As bizarre as the play was, it took the Yankees out of an inning and early first inning lead.

“I was baffled by the explanation,” said Jeter about Foster’s call. But it was more of a point of view that Jeter slid under the tag and should have had the base. Girardi, ejected for the third time this season, said all he wanted was a valid explanation from Foster.

And Girardi alluded the move by Jeter at the time may have been a mistake.” The idea of being aggressive I have no problem with,” he said. “But you have to be right. We made some base running mistakes. The decision is right if you are safe.”

New York lost for just the second time in 12 games. Starter and loser Andy Pettitte (8-4) had trouble with his command.  He pitched six innings and a third, gave up a season high six earned runs, five hits and walked five. Pettitte also gave up two home runs that put the Yankees in trouble, 12 of his 14 home run balls have been thrown at Yankee Stadium. Alex Rios got his 10th with two on in the third, and John McDonald hit his first, a solo shot in the seventh that gave the Jays a 5-1 lead at the time.

Rookie Left hander Ricky Romero (7-3) was once again a bright spot for Toronto, a team that gets the extra base hit and moving further back in the Al east race behind first place Boston, the Yankees, and Tampa Bay. Romero, a native of Los Angeles California and of Mexican heritage, won his fourth straight game allowing 3 earned runs on seven hits in 6.1 innings.

“He threw a lot of pitches in the first inning, but he wasn’t throwing bad,” said Toronto manager Cito Gaston about Romero. “He pitched a good game and he showed a lot.” Romero in that first inning walked Jeter, forced a balk, threw a wild pitch and Alex Rodriguez was hit by a pitch.

And Romero got some help in the outfield. His left fielder Jose Bautista made a nice catch on a ball hit by Yankees Brett Gardner in the third. And in the fourth, he caught a ball off the bat of Robinson Cano, and his relay throw to second resulted in a double play that nailed Rodriguez at first thus averting a Yankees threat.

“It was just 6 1/3 innings but it was 6 1/3 innings where they had me battling every inning,” said Romero who has six wins after a Toronto loss and got out of numerous jams. He also had his 24.0 inning scoreless streak snapped with Hinske’s home run which tied the franchise rookie record for consecutive shutout innings set by Mark Eichhorn in 1976.

Said Romero, “I was really excited, you know it’s a packed house, it’s the Yankees and you want to do really good.  Jason Frasor got his third save in five opportunities.  And for the Yankees ninth inning heroics surly will come again.

“Two outs you feel that something is going to happen,” said Girardi referring to that last out with Hinske at bat. And for the Yankees it has become so common that they expect to win games like this all the time.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com