Good times! The Bronx is up, while Flushing's down

The Yanks are looking very good - they've been winning series after series, with new heroes stepping up each day. The Mets - not so much.

Yesterday's Yankee win featured a very good Chien-Ming Wang - for two innings, that is. Then it started to fall apart for him. But I'm going to be hopeful, and figure that he'll be better once his arm strength improves.

However, if it's a mental issue affecting Wang, the Yankee "fans" booing him aren't helping. Just stop it already.

Fortunately, Mark Teixeria's hit, which looked like something out of a pinball machine, and Melky Cabrera's home run bailed out the Bombers. It was another nice victory. The Yanks are on quite a run, aren't they?

On the other hand, Squawker Jon's Mets are, well, crashing and burning and all that jazz. Too bad, so sad.

At least Jon's blog entry on how the Mets should just say no to Tom Glavine got noticed by both MetsBlog and Big League Stew. Very cool!

I also read on MetsBlog that the minor-league Binghamton Mets are wearing Star Trek-inspired jerseys at tonight's game. Jon's all excited about this. As for myself, if I had to sit through anything Star Trek-related, I'd be asking to get beamed up!

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Last night, I dragged Squawker Jon to a sneak preview of "The Proposal," the upcoming Sandra Bullock/Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy. (Don't judge; the event was free!) The screening also showcased some of the shows on WE TV's Sunday night lineup, like "Bridezillas," "My Fair Wedding," and "Amazing Wedding Cakes." You can imagine Jon's reaction to all this.

After sitting through the screening, Squawker Jon let me have it. "I feel embarrassed," Jon squawked. "I don't think it's fun." My writing partner griped we have to "focus more on what we need to accomplish," and opined that "we have to take this personal, because this can't happen."

Oh, wait. That wasn't Jon; that was Carlos Beltran after the Mets got swept by the Pirates. Oops!


What do you think? Leave us a comment!

On Andy Pettitte's aching back and Chien-Ming Wang being back in the rotation

Last night's game was a frustrating slog right from the beginning. Andy Pettitte looked terrible - he gave up six walks, seven hits, and four runs in five innings. This is the second start in a row where he seemed to be affected by a bad back. What's going on there?

After last night's game, LoHud.com's Peter Abraham made a reference to Andy Pettitte's incentive-laden contract. According to the Cot's Baseball Contracts site, Pettite's 2009 contract, which gives him a base salary of $5.5 million, has an additional $6.5 million in incentives, broken out this way:

• $4.5M in performance bonuses: $0.5M each for 150, 160, 170 IP; $0.75M each for 180, 190, 200, 210 IP
• $2M in roster bonuses: $0.1M for 120 days on active 25-man roster; $0.2M for 130 days; $0.25M each for 140, 150 days; $0.4M each for 160, 170, 180 days

Incentive-based contracts can be good - look at how Carl Pavano miraculously became as healthy as a horse once he had to sign one this year - but they might also encourage players to play through the pain a little too much. I hope that's not what's happening here with Pettitte.

In addition to Pettitte's pitching, the rest of the game also had frustrating moments, particularly the lack of timely hitting. While Alex Rodriguez did get an RBI single earlier in the game, he also had some big failures with runners in scoring position last night. And boy, did the Yankee Stadium crowd let him hear it. Not good - I wish fans would stop booing their own players. It's a fact of life, though, for A-Rod.

Speaking of which, I hope the Yankee Stadium crowd is supportive, not derisive, when Chien-Ming Wang pitches again this afternoon. I think the Yanks are making the right move in having him start again, and moving Phil Hughes to the bullpen.

And no, I'm not going to pull a Mike Francesa and say that Joba Chamberlain should go to the pen. I heard Brian Cashman on Michael Kay's show talk about how that Joba is still doing that simulated first inning in the bullpen before each start. Given that, it makes even less sense to put him in the pen.

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In other news, I was excited about the tantalizing possibility of Tom Glavine becoming a Met again, now that he's been released from the Braves. Omar, do the right thing and sign Glavine!

Here's why I'm so hot to get Glavine as a Met. Squawker Jon is a lot more mild-mannered than I am - shocking, I know! - but Tom Glavine seems to really get under skin. The angriest Squawker post Jon has ever done was after Glavine's horrendous first inning in the last game of 2007. Squawker Jon didn't exactly care for Tom saying how he wasn't devastated after that loss, or how he tried to justify that statement the following spring.

So yeah, I'd love to see Glavine as a Met again. Would be thrilled to see Jon and all the other denizens of Mets Nation having to cheer for him. What fun!

Is something wrong with Andy Pettitte? What do you think of Chien-Ming Wang going back into the Yankee rotation? Tell us what you think!

Yuck! Yanks do nothing against Pavano, and Coke isn't it

Yesterday was one of the most frustrating Yankee games I've watched all year. And I'm still a little bit irked by the outcome. I complained to Squawker Jon last night about the loss, and he muttered something about how "you Yankee fans want to win every game." And that attitude is wrong, why exactly?

Losing is one thing, though, but the way the Yanks went about their business yesterday was very frustrating. First off, it was bad enough when the Yankees nearly lost to Carl Pavano the first time around this year. But that's understandable, I guess, given that they didn't know what he looked like pitching. Making him look like an ace for the second time this season? Unacceptable.

Speaking of American Idle, I read that Pavano said about his time with the Yankees, "I have no regrets." Of course he doesn't. He got $39.95 million for sitting on his (bruised) butt for four years. What could he possibly regret - whether he should have bought a Porsche or a Ferrari with his ill-gotten gains? Whether he should eat foie gras or caviar? Whether he should buy a mansion or a penthouse apartment? Sheesh.

While the Yanks weren't able to do anything against Pavano, they did tie the game off the Cleveland bullpen. But I had no faith that the Yanks would win after Jorge Posada hit into a double play. Part of the reason that play happened was because Brett Gardner, who misplayed a ball earlier in the game, ignored Joe Girardi's steal sign:

"They did want me to steal, and I didn't go. I should have. Another mistake," Gardner said.

Ya think?

You know how John Sterling always opines about how leadoff walks in late innings are so costly? He's right. And Phil Coke didn't just walk the leadoff batter, Trevor Crowe, in the ninth, he complained about the umpire's call, saying "I thought it was a strike." Not cool.

Dave Robertson wasn't any great shakes, either, giving up the winning hit to Jhonny Peralta. All in all, it wasn't exactly a red-letter day for the Yankees.

And to top it all off, my Squawker partner was up close at yesterday's Met game, breathing in all sorts of germs. Your Yankee-hating is nauseating enough, Jon; you'd better not make me literally sick as well!

The one bright side to yesterday's debacle was Chien-Ming Wang looking like himself. He pitched three lights-out innings, and looked much more impressive than starter Phil Hughes. Thank goodness for small favors.

What do you think about yesterday's loss? Leave us a comment!