Love the commentary in the videos.  No punches pulled.

Via Anthony Rieber –

At about 1:10 p.m. on April 1, a Mets pitcher — probably Jonathon Niese — will throw the first pitch of the 2013 season to a Padres batter in Queens.

At about the same exact moment, a Yankees pitcher — probably CC Sabathia — will throw the first pitch of his team’s 2013 season to a Red Sox batter in the Bronx.

This is not an April Fools’ Day joke.

The Mets and Yankees are scheduled to both open the season on the same day, at the same time, in the same city, for the first time ever.

The Yankees’ marquee rivalry matchup with the hated Red Sox and the Mets’ . . . um . . . game against the Padres could have been staggered by time or played on different days. But Major League Baseball and the teams have decided this is the way it’s going to be, even though a Mets official admits it’s not what they prefer.

“Our feeling is that while it’s not ideal to have both teams opening at home on the same day at the same time, it’s also an interesting opportunity to have the entire city and the surrounding area celebrate Opening Day in New York regardless of which particular team you follow,” said David Howard, the Mets’ executive vice president of business operations, said. “We think there’s actually some upside to it even though, again, we wouldn’t have chosen it.”

Still, Yankees-Red Sox feels like Broadway and Mets-Padres feels like Off-Broadway.

The Mets have to work to get their fans into the ballpark today while building for tomorrow. It’s a tough sell on most days — but Howard said he is “confident” the opener will be a sellout.

“Ticket sales have been strong,” he said. “I think overall, both teams will do well. We both have significant fan bases and this is going to be a big game for us, as it will be for them. We’re still confident that we’ll be sold out.”

Officials from both teams said it was important for them to have the opener April 1 followed by a day off so they could protect themselves against bad weather. Asked if the Mets considered changing the game time, Howard said they didn’t.

“Our view is Opening Day should be a 1:10 start,” he said. “That’s our tradition. It’s something that our fans, our customers look forward to and moving to either a 4:10 or 7:10 start would we think severely adversely affect the experience in a number of ways.”

Katy Feeney, MLB’s vice president for scheduling and club relations, said the teams control the game times and either could have moved if they wanted to. (A Yankees spokesman said the team didn’t consider it.)

Feeney said a number of factors over the 162-game schedule contributed to both teams starting the season at home.

“It’s something we do try to avoid,” Feeney said. “We looked at trying to change it, because it is not something we want. But when New York had three teams, it happened on occasion, too.”

If the Yankees draw less than 48,000 on Opening Day, I think that’s a flag for bad things to come this season. They are usually good for 48-49,000 on their home opener in the new Stadium. And, the number for the Mets is 41-42,000. If they pull less than forty, that’s a message for them too.

Good one.

Via Jon Paul Morosi -

Taking note of his beard, I told [David] Price he’d have to shave if the Yankees traded for him.

“I wouldn’t stay there very long then,” he responded. “I wouldn’t sign a long-term deal there. Those rules, that’s old-school baseball. I was born in ’85. That’s not for me. That’s not something I want to be a part of.”

Is it time for the Yankees to do away with their policy on not allowing long hair and/or beards? Personally, I like it. But, maybe I am in the minority?

Via Businessweek with a H/T to BBTF -

The New York Yankees face plenty of questions as Major League Baseball’s spring training begins, and oddsmakers are among those awaiting answers.

The 27-time champions are conspicuously absent among the favorites to win the World Series this year, according to sports books in Las Vegas, and aren’t the oddsmakers’ pick to win a division title they’ve claimed 12 of the past 15 years.

Steve Mikkelson, who has set baseball betting lines since 1987 and is the sports book director for the Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno, Nevada, yesterday put the Yankees’ projected win total for this season at 86 1/2. The Yankees haven’t won fewer than 87 games in a full season since 1992, and have had 94 wins or more seven of the past eight years.

“I can never recall seeing the Yankees in this position,” said Mikkelson, who put up Nevada’s earliest win totals for MLB teams for the seventh straight year. “They’ve always been one of the top two or three teams, if not the top team, year in and year out for the last 20 years.”

The Yankees began workouts for pitchers and catchers yesterday in Tampa, Florida, and have their first full-squad practice scheduled for Feb. 18. Their regular-season schedule begins April 1 against the Boston Red Sox.

With a projected win total of 86 1/2, bettors can place a season-long wager on whether the Yankees will have 87 wins or more, or if they’ll have 86 wins or fewer. A winning $115 wager would return a $100 profit. New York’s worst record during the past 17 years was an 87-74 mark in 2000, when it went on to win a third straight World Series title.

The Yankees head into spring training with 14-1 odds of winning this year’s World Series, tied for eighth among the league’s 30 teams at the Las Vegas Hotel’s Super Book. The Los Angeles Angels, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays and defending champion San Francisco Giants currently have better odds.

“I can’t remember the last time they’ve been in this range to win the World Series at the start of the year,” Chris Bennett, who sets baseball lines for the LVH Super Book, said in a telephone interview. “I feel like they’ve always been less than 10-1, at least, coming into the season. People have a lot of questions about the Yankees.”

The Yankees hadn’t been lower than third favorites to win the World Series in the past five years, according to Las Vegas- based handicapping information website Pregame.com.

A couple of things to note here…

One, Vegas sets these numbers with the intent to get people to bet. So, that impacts the projection. And, two, Vegas has no one in the A.L. East winning more than 87 games in 2013. So, while the Yankees win total here is low, they’re still saying that the Yankees have a chance to win the East (along with the Jays and Rays).

Via the L.A. Times -

So Mike Piazza was planning to go all Ralph Macchio on Roger Clemens? And then when he had the opportunity, decided just maybe it wasn’t his best idea?

Hey, that’s show business, or at least the autobiography business.

Piazza’s memoir “Long Shot” hits the stores Tuesday, and although it deals with the suspected topics — did not do steroids, should be in the Hall of Fame, is not gay — in expected fashion, there is one surprising element.

Piazza said he was so upset over Roger Clemens’ beaning him during a game while with the Mets in 2000, he took karate lessons to prepare for their next encounter.

According to a transcript released by the New York Post, Piazza even had details of the confrontation all worked out in his mind.

“I would approach with my fist pulled back. I figured he’d throw his glove out for protection. I’d parry the glove and then get after it,” Piazza wrote.

Then as the baseball fates would have it, the Mets and Clemens’ Yankees met in the World Series that year. Oh, grasshopper, such possibilities.

That led to one of the more bizarre situations in postseason history. In the fourth inning of Game 2, Clemens unleashed one of his trademark fastballs, a pitch so wicked it shattered Piazza’s bat.

What was left of the barrel flew toward the mound. Clemens picked it up and threw it in Piazza’s direction as he ran down the first-base line, almost as if he thought the catcher had somehow intentionally sent it screaming back at him.

Piazza yelled something, apparently not “I’m your Huckleberry,” and took a step toward Clemens. But just one step.

Maybe he heard Mr. Miyagi whispering in his ear. Maybe he was tired from waxing the car. There would be no deft parry, no revengeful karate chop, no special crane move, no Elisabeth Shue waiting in the wings.

“There were complications,” Piazza recalled. “The least of them was the realization that Clemens was a big guy, and I stood a pretty fair chance of getting my … kicked in front of Yankee Stadium and the world. That was a legitimate concern.”

Actually, they’re both about 6 feet 3 and 210 pounds, and Piazza was six years younger.

At some point, Jorge Posada and/or Charlie Reliford are going to comment on what happened on October 22, 2000…or, at the least, that would be nice…since they had the best seats in the house for the Clemens-Piazza thing, after all.

Via Jayson Stark -

I surveyed one baseball executive in all six divisions, including three who formerly worked for teams in the AL East. I also had Dan Szymborski project records for every team and every division in 2013. Then I did team-by-team, division-by-division power rankings. And, finally, I factored in payrolls, Vegas odds and all sorts of other data. So what’s the answer? Read on. …

#1 – American League East

No, I wasn’t trying to trick you. Check the hard facts:

Projected division record: 434-376, .536 (1st)
Projected record vs. non-division opponents: 244-186, .567 (1st)
Projected 90-win teams: one (Toronto)
Projected .500 or better teams: all five
Vegas rank: 1st
Payroll rank: 1st
Power ranking: 1st
Poll ranking: 1st

So the argument that the AL East is still No. 1 doesn’t require a degree from MIT to comprehend. It’s as basic as a 3-1 fastball: Top to bottom, it’s still the best.

Szymborski is projecting that this will become the second division in the wild-card era (along with the 2005 NL East) in which every team finishes .500 or better.

This means the Yankees are, at least, and 81-win team but not a 90-win team. And, it would not shock me if that was the case in New York this year.

This could be Toronto’s starting rotation this season:

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And, this should be the Yankees starting rotation this season:

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Which do you think will be better in 2013 and why?

Me?  I think they both have interesting potential.   But, they both have some potential serious question marks around age or mileage and the ability to stay healthy.  I think  both rotations, on the high end, could win 70 games each this season.  But, on the low end,  each could only win 55 games in 2013.

Of course, since both teams play in the same division and face each other so often, maybe the key here will be who wins when they face each other?  And, in that case, it will come down to the batting line-ups and bullpens.

It’s down to the two New York teams for Scott Hairston.

Have the Yankees ever lost out to the Mets in a battle for a free agent before?

I wonder if this one is going to be as much fun as the Joe Torre Book when it came out?

With the CHB having a hand in it, there’s always that chance.

Source.

Kevin Youkilis in a Yankees uniform?

If this happens, how will Yooooooouk be received the first time he shows up for a game at Fenway Park in a Yankees uniform?

And, how will Yankees fans, or Joba Chamberlain for that matter, accept Youkilis as one of their own?

Oh, how the uniform worn changes things in a hurry, sometimes…

Via Ben Shapiro -

For years, Paul O’Neill was the New York Yankee who Boston Red Sox fans loved to hate.

O’Neil hasn’t played in pinstripes since the end of the 2001 season, and Red Sox fans have found plenty Yankees to dislike in the meantime.

Since 2009, Nick Swisher has been one of the least popular Yankees in Boston — a large feat considering how little love Red Sox fans have for all who wear pinstripes.

That might make it a little odd to think about the very real possibility that Swisher could wear a Red Sox uniform next season. According to Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe, the Red Sox have been engaged in on-going talks with Swisher and his agents.

The Red Sox need at least one outfielder. Even after signing Jonny Gomes, the Red Sox are still light in the outfield.

Swisher possesses some qualities on which the Red Sox place a priority.

He’s a 32-year old switch hitter who can play either the outfield (normally right field) or first base. He has hit 20 or more home runs for nine seasons in a row. Swisher has an unimpressive career .256 batting average, but that is offset by a very respectable career on-base percentage of .361.

Swisher is not popular among Red Sox nation right now, but odds are that he’d be a fairly productive player in Boston

He might even make Red Sox fans forget about his pinstriped past.

Swisher would be the perfect Masshole, in the model of Millar, Schilling and the others before them…

Via Pete Abe last month -

The Boston Red Sox today named Eddie Bane Special Assistant to Player Personnel.

“We are committed to having the best evaluators working together with the best analytic minds to guide us in our player decisions,” said [general manager Ben] Cherington. “Eddie is a highly respected evaluator and has been instrumental in finding high caliber talent for the organizations he’s been a part of. The club will benefit immensely from his nearly 40 years of experience as a player, coach, scout and evaluator in professional baseball.”

Bane, 60, spent the last two seasons in the Detroit Tigers organization as a major league scout after serving as Director of Scouting for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for seven seasons from 2004-10. While with the Angels, Bane oversaw the scouting of amateur and minor league talent, as well as the signing of domestic and international players. Under his direction the Angels selected and signed players such as Jered Weaver, Kendrys Morales, Mark Trumbo and Mike Trout.

Prior to his time with the Angels, Bane spent five seasons as a special assistant to former Tampa Bay Rays General Manager Chuck LaMar. From 1988-98 he was a national cross-checker and major league scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also previously worked in the Cleveland Indians organization for four years, managing Short-A Batavia for two seasons from 1984-85 and serving as a cross-checker and scout from 1984-87.

Smart move by the Red Sox.

What’s the under/over line on how many times we’re going to hear his name during the Yankees-Orioles ALDS this year?

Is it just me, or, are the Orioles players and their fans having more fun right now than the Yankees players and their fans?

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Source.

It’s a reach.  But, play along with this for a moment.

If the Yankees go 2-4 in their last 6 games, that would put them at 92-70 on  the season.

If the Rays win all of their remaining 6 games, that would put them at 92-70 for the year.

And, if the Orioles sweep the Red Sox and then get swept by the Rays, that would put them at, yes, you guessed it, 92-70 after 162 games.

Now, it’s always possible that the Orioles could split their last 6 games.  And, maybe the Yankees only go 2-4 to close out the season.  But, can both of those things happen and the Rays win every game they have left?  Keep in mind that Tampa is currently on an 8-game winning streak.  So, this means they would have  to close out the season with 14 straight wins.

Nah, it’s not going to happen…

The Tampa Bay Rays are now just two games back, in the loss column, in the chase for the second A.L. wildcard chase.

If the Rays can hang in there, against the White Sox for the next three games, it will be interesting to see them close out the season against the Orioles.

But, if Tampa falls out of it in the next three games, then they will have nothing to play for when they face Baltimore.

Of course, the White Sox have a lot to play for now, as well – since they are fighting the Tigers for first in the A.L. Central.

Oh, and, by the way, the A’s will be in this thing too – as they play the Mariners for three and then close out with three against the Rangers, who they are chasing in the standings.  And, Texas is now playing the Angels for three games – who are in the same wildcard position as the Rays!

Man, whoever made up the schedule for the A.L. this year was a genius!

With their loss to the Blue Jays this evening, the Yankees lead over the Orioles in the A.L. East is down to one game – with six games left to play on the season.

So, if the Orioles go 4-2 over their next and last six games, then the Yankees will have to go 4-2 as well to win the A.L. East.

But, if the Yankees go 3-3 in their next and last six games, and the Orioles go 4-2, then we’re looking at a tie in the A.L. East standings – and a one-game play-in game between the Yanks in O’s down in Baltimore.

The biggest player in this mix may be the Boston Red Sox.

The Orioles now play the Sox for three games at Camden Yards. And, then, after that, Boston heads to New York for the last three games of the season.

Suppose that the Red Sox lose two in Camden and take two at Yankee Stadium.

That means that the Yankees must win two of their next three games and the Orioles will have to win two of their last three games at Tampa Bay – to force that tie.

But, this is just one of the possible things that can happen between now and the end of the year.

Bottom line, the Yankees still control their own destiny. Now, they just need to beat the Blue Jays to keep that control.

Per the MLB site: A tiebreaker game will be played to determine a division winner, even if the tied clubs are assured of participating in the postseason. If a division championship tiebreaker is necessary, the head-to-head record between the clubs will determine home-field advantage. If the head-to-head record is tied, then division record will be the next tiebreaker.

Well, we know that the Yankees and Orioles split their 18 games this season. So, the division record will determine who gets home field in the tie-breaker game.

At this writing, the Yankees are 36-29 against the A.L. East and the Orioles are 38-27. So, it’s close – considering that both New York and Baltimore have games left other A.L. East teams.

Therefore, if the Yankees and Orioles are tied for first place at the end of the season, we know they would have to play a game on October 4th – with the loser than having to play the Wildcard playoff on the next day. But, where that game on October 4th will be played is still TBD.

This is a huge series for the first place Yankees. For the last place Jays, not so much.

In fact, in their last 15 games, Toronto is 4-11. So, it seems like the Blue Jays have already packed their bags on this season.

The Yankees will be throwing Nova, Kuroda, Pettitte and Hughes in this series. The Blue Jays will have Brandon Morrow, Chad Jenkins, Henderson Alvarez and a pitcher TBA.

If New York can take three of these four games, it would go a long way towards winning the A.L. East. But, if the Yankees split, or do worse, it may give the Orioles a chance to gain ground in the standings. (While the Yankees are in Toronto, the Orioles will be hosting Botson for three games in Camden Yards. And, who knows if the Red Sox are going to show up and play hard in those games? They should – considering it would be payback for last year. But, you never know.)

After today’s games, the gap between the O’s and Yanks will either be a half-game, a game and a half, or two and a half games.

If the gap is less than two games, then these games in Toronto will be huge for the Yankees.

Seeing all this, I can’t help but think of 1985 when the Yankees went into Toronto just 2.5 games back of first on September 12th for a four-game series.

New York won that first game but then lost the next three. That killed them – and then they lost the next 5 games in a row.

Can the Jays do that again to the Yankees, this year? We’ll soon find out.

Boston’s last 6 games of this season are three at Baltimore and three at New York.

The Red Sox, therefore, could have a huge impact on who wins the A.L. East.

It all depends if Boston wants to show up and play hard in those games – and be the spoiler – or, if they want to roll over and mail it in for the last week of the season.

What do you think they will do?

It is amazing that New York has never been able to get more than one game ahead of Baltimore since September 2nd:

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Maybe today is the day that we finally see more than one game between the Yankees and Orioles? Since Baltimore has to play two games today, the odds of this happening are pretty good, no?

For the record, the Yankees and the Orioles haven’t been separated by more than one game in the standings since September 3rd, as you can see, above. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s the longest such streak in September or later since 1889.

Yes, eighteen eighty nine.

Via ESPN -

The Baltimore Orioles weren’t going to be denied a victory — or making history — even if it took 5 hours and 44 minutes to do it.

Taylor Teagarden stroked a pinch-hit RBI single to right in the 18th inning to help give the Baltimore Orioles a 4-2 comeback victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.

The win allowed the Orioles (84-64) to pull within a percentage point of the Yankees (83-63) for the lead in the AL East. The Yankees were rained out Tuesday and will play a split double-header with Toronto on Wednesday.

Baltimore maintained a three-game lead in the wild-card race over the Los Angeles Angels, who beat Texas 11-3 in Anaheim.

The Orioles’ success in extra-inning games might be one of the biggest factors keeping them in the playoff hunt. They have won 14 straight extra-inning games for the longest extra-inning win streak since the 1949 Cleveland Indians won 19 straight. Overall, the Orioles are 14-2 in extra-inning games this season, going 9-0 in them on the road.

In my mind, the Yankees need to worry about the O’s and A’s now – and keep an eye on the Angels. There’s no way that the Yankees want to allow Baltimore to finish first and for Oakland to have a better record (than New York).

Who wants to travel to the West Coast for a one game, sudden death, playoff (in a pitcher’s park)?

And, worse, if the Angels get hot, then there’s pressure for that last wildcard spot.

The Yankees better go something like 11-5 or 10-6 to close out the season. I don’t think going 9-7 (or worse) is going to get the job done.

Here they are, to date, coming into this evening’s game:

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There’s really only, maybe, one gem in this bunch, no?

The Mets on playing the Yankees two times less each season starting next year:

“I like it better,” Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey said. “It’s unfair that every year we have to play the Yankees, just because they are an inter-city rival when the other teams don’t.”

Said third baseman David Wright, “[The Yankees] have a real good team, so it’s obviously beneficial for what we’re trying to accomplish that it’s [condensed]. Not that we don’t enjoy that series, because at least I do, but the Yankees are always a good team. You play them four times and it gives the fans an opportunity to come out to both ballparks. It gives fans a taste of that interleague Subway Series, but at the same time it makes the schedule a little more, I don’t know if ‘fair’ is the word. … It will be nice to have a little more balance to the schedule.”

The Mets have lost 21 of 25 games at home since the All-Star break this season. But, the Yankees are in the process of choking up a 10-game lead in the A.L. East. If you ask me, I think these two teams are just perfect for each other.

Via WEEI.com -

Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington, during an appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Friday morning, said he’s confident the team can turn its fortunes around and make the playoffs without mortgaging the future.

Cherington said the baseball operations staff has been active and will continue to be so leading up to Tuesday’s trade deadline. The Sox play the first-place Yankees in New York this weekend.

“We spend more time in the room talking with each other about deals, and maybe have 30 or 40 phone calls with other teams throughout the course of the day,” he said. “I assume that will continue, and the subject matter of those phone calls will depend some on what other teams do and some on what we do this weekend.”

Cherington stressed that the Sox are well within contention for the playoffs.

“When we look at where we are in the standings, I guess particularly the teams that are right ahead of us in the wild card chase, we don’t believe that any of those teams are better than us, or necessarily more talented than us. So in that sense we’re not of the mindset of giving in on anything. We want to try to win, and if there’s ways to improve our chances of winning and catching those teams, we want to do that. You have to be smart about it. You have to gauge the potential return you’re getting on a deal relative to where you are.

“Like I said, we are where we are. We’re 49-50. We feel this is as good a team as the other teams that are sort of clustered right ahead of us. We also have to be mindful that you have two months left and we’ve dug ourselves a little bit of a hole, and we’ve got to be smart about giving up too many long-term assets to try to get a little better the next two months. That doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to improve the team, and do it in a wise manner and a prudent manner. We’ll definitely work to do that.”

Added Cherington: “It’s an unusual position for us to be in. That’s the truth. Our approach at the deadline most every year that I’ve been here in the front office has been pretty clear. We’re trying to improve the team. This deadline is going to take more of a nuanced approach, but we’re certainly still focused on 2012 and doing everything we can to win as many games as we can this year.”

Josh Beckett has become a focal point of fans’ frustration with the underachieving Sox, but Cherington said the team is more focused on adding players.

“Taking Josh Beckett off this team is not necessarily improving things,” he said. “We need to add, we need to improve the rotation, if anything — improve internally or add to the rotation. I think we’re sort of stuck in neutral if we start taking guys out of the rotation who are good major league pitchers.”

Related, when was the last time that a Yankees/Red Sox series in late July had as little “buzz” as this weekend’s match-up?

Via Boston.com this morning -

Since the start of the 2003 season, the Red Sox and Yankees have played precisely 168 times in the regular season, the series deadlocked at exactly 84-84. Add in the playoffs and the numbers change to 91-91 – seven postseason wins each – and further examination reveals even greater parity.

Each team defeated the other in an American League Championship Series. Each team went to two World Series. The Red Sox have won two titles while the Yankees have won one, and most any conversation about American League contenders included both.

Missing here is the Yankees choke of 2004 and the Red Sox choke of 2011.

Which was worse, in your opinion?

I know the Yankees had to win just one game in four tries in 2004. But, the Red Sox went 6-18 to close out 2011 and did not win consecutive games at any point in the month of September…blowing a 9 game lead on a post-season berth. And, they blew their last game of the season in the 9th inning.

So, which was worse?

Both New York and Boston batted around in the first inning…

Oh, it’s going to be a long night…after a 43 minute first inning.

And, the teams play a split day-night double-header tomorrow…in the heat.

Should be fun.

Via Tim Bontemps -

Nick Swisher leapt as high as he could to catch the towering fly ball Ike Davis sent down the right field line with two outs in the bottom of the first inning last night.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Swisher couldn’t jump high enough.

Instead, the ball bounced out of Swisher’s glove and over the fence, giving Davis a three-run home run and the Mets what proved to be an insurmountable 5-0 lead after one, helping them go on to a 6-4 triumph over the Yankees at Citi Field in the opening game of the latest Subway Series.

“It definitely hit my glove, there’s no doubt about that,” Swisher said. “I just couldn’t pull it in. I wish I could have.”

The Mets already had scored two runs in the bottom of the first against Yankees starter Andy Pettitte, and had two runners on base when Davis came up and swung at the first pitch Pettitte threw him.

Davis hit the pitch, one Pettitte would later describe as a hanging cutter, high in the air and about 330 feet down the right field line. Swisher kept tracking the ball back toward the right field corner before eventually finding himself with no more room to spare, only to see his leap come up short.

“I kind of lost it halfway up, and I knew it was going back there towards the wall, and when I got the shot, I just couldn’t get up high enough,” Swisher said.

The play proved to be pivotal, as Pettitte eventually escaped from the first inning and settled down to shut down the Mets over the next five innings. The Yankees managed to chip into the lead, thanks to home runs from Andruw Jones and Robinson Cano, but were never able to overcome the initial hole they put themselves in.

“He hit it a mile high, you know?” Swisher said. “I just tried to track it back to the wall, and once you get to the wall, I mean, that wall ain’t exactly five feet tall, you know? So I tried to get up there and make the play, and just couldn’t make it.”

I wonder how many runs would have scored if Swisher let the ball hit the wall and then just played the carom?

In any event, Pettitte did a good job giving the team innings after that disaster first inning. But, once again, the Yankees were a score on homerun only team. Maybe they can hire Justin Turner to teach them how to bat with runners in scoring position?

Big game for Nova today. If the Yankees lose tonight, then Dickey will lock it up, and get the Mets the sweep, on Sunday.