Phil Hughes and Alex Rodriguez sparkle on Memorial Day

One of the good signs for the Yankees' current hot streak is that they're playing tough against good teams. As my Rangers' fan nephew has been telling me all season, the Rangers actually have a pretty decent team this year. Which made yesterday's 11-1 victory even more impressive.

Since it was Memorial Day, the Yanks and Rangers were both wearing those red hats to honor the troops. I appreciate the sentiment - especially since my brother just went back to Iraq for his third tour over there - but it still kind of confused me a little to see the Yankees wearing red, especially when red is a primary color in the Rangers' uniform!

Phil Hughes seems to have stepped up his game since it looked like he was about to have his last start in the rotation. Giving up zero runs and only three hits over eight innings in that bandbox of a ballpark is phenomenal, especially when Alex Rodriguez single-handedly had five hits of his own for the Yanks. And Hughes wanted to complete the game, so he didn't want to shake Joe Girardi's hand after the eighth inning.

Anyhow, it was good to see a blowout, after two nailbiter games in a row. Hopefully, the Yanks will beat up on the Rangers again today.

One other note - I was glad to hear that University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy threw a decent first pitch before the game. If he hadn't, Squawker Jon would mock me forever about my alma mater's QB not being able to throw!

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In other news, I read that Jonathan Papelbon threw a hissy fit - and a towel - Saturday when a photographer took a photo of him in the dugout after the reliever gave up that homer to Omir Santos. (Click here to see him throwing the towel.) What a baby.

If Papelbon wants to be left alone, maybe he could change places with former Red Sox closer Keith Foulke, who is trying to make a comeback with the Newark Bears. Foulke griped a lot, too, about being in the media fishbowl. But he's now so eager to come back to the majors that he says he'd "even play for the Yankees"!

Hmmm, now that Brian Bruney is on the DL for the second time, could I see Brian Cashman taking a flyer on Foulke? Absolutely. I hope he doesn't, though - the last thing the Yanks need is a pitcher who hates baseball!

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Thoughts on yesterday's Yankee loss, and why I feel sorry for David Ortiz

I guess I should be bummed out that the Yanks couldn't get the job done in extra innings yesterday, but I'm not all that upset over the loss. It's hard to complain too much when the Yanks went 8-2 in this homestand. And at least CC Sabathia continued to pitch well.

However, the fact that the Red Sox only won one of three this weekend, and still slid into first place, does tick me off. And it's funny that my predictions for both series ended up being more accurate for the Mets than the Yankees!

Speaking of Boston, I do feel sorry for the woeful David Ortiz, even though I strongly suspect - thanks in no small part to him hiring Angel Presinal as a trainer - that he's gotten some "help" in the past. The once-proud, ebullient player looks like a broken man. That's how pathetic Ortiz has been at the plate - even Yankee fans feel bad for him!

I see that there's talk about moving Big Papi, who bats third in the lineup, further down in the lineup. Sounds like hitting coach Dave Magadan and manager Terry Francona are going to talk about it, and consult Ortiz. You mean you actually inform your team's superstar that you're going to move him down in the lineup? I thought the standard - and "classy" - thing was to move your struggling star to eighth in the lineup, and not tell him about it beforehand. And then gripe when reporters ask you about it.

When I was growing up, I heard from my brothers about how sad it was when Willie Mays was stumbling around the outfield in the 1973 World Series. But Mays was 42 then. Ortiz is only 33.

Is Ortiz's career over? I don't want to say yes, but his slump has been going on since last season. When Brett Gardner has more homers than Ortiz, that isn't a good sign.

Now I'm going to throw a gratuitous Jonathan Papelbon slam out there. In addition to him throwing a fit when he didn't like an ump's call in Saturday's game, I saw this pic on Sliding Into Home, where Pap's vacant stare seems to suggest he's aiming to replace Spencer Pratt on "The Hills." Yeah, I went there.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Let's go Mets! Jonathan Papelbon cries as Omir Santos (!) hits one off him

For once, Squawker Jon and I are united in our baseball fandom this weekend. And we were both equally thrilled - and surprised - to see the Mets beat Jonathan Papelbon and the Red Sox last night.

It was soooo enjoyable to see Papelbon's dopey facial expressions after he gave up that homer to Omir Santos, both before and after that play was ruled to be a homer.

And how about Keith Hernandez saying on the air that Papelbon should go ride the pine after the pitcher ran out of the dugout to make a scene about griped a call in the bottom of the ninth! (NY Sports Dog has a clip of Papelbon's temper tantrum here. Classic!) What a drama king Papelbon is.

Between Papelbon making a fool of himself yesterday, and Kevin Youkilis making a fool of himself against Johan Santana in Friday's game, Mets fans got to see a little of what we Yankee fans have to deal with for 19 games a year. (No, I'm not buying that Youk was just joking when he griped after being hit by that pitch.) And Boston fans think Joba Chamberlain is over the top? Look at the drama kings on the Sox!

Arguably, yesterday's Mets win was more of a miracle than the Yankees' walkoff win vs. the Phillies. In my predictions for this weekend, I called the game a tossup. After a pitcher's duel that Mike Pelfrey was about to lose against Josh Beckett, to see the Mets' third-string catcher go deep against Papelbon was pretty amazing.

And, as Squawker Jon noted, the Mets' stellar defensive plays in the bottom of the ninth were pretty unexpected as well. Not to mention that the Mets won without their closer, Francisco Rodriguez, who was doubled over in pain with back spasms. The Yankees had an exciting walkoff win, to be sure, but even I can see that what the Mets did was even more stunning than the Yankees' victory.

Anyhow, it was a great day for New York baseball. And a rare day for Subway Squawkers, in that Jon and I were rooting for the same teams. Let's keep it up today!

What did you think of the Mets-Red Sox game? Leave us a comment!