Halladay gets hammered, Yanks win 8-3. Mets beat Tribe 7-6.

(41-23) Yankees - 8, Phillies - 3 (32-20)
W - CC Sabathia (7-3)
L - Roy Halladay (8-5)
HR: (NYY) Curtis Granderson (5), Nick Swisher (11), Mark Teixeira (10)

The Yankees did what they needed to do. They got to Roy Halladay early, and didn't look back. Halladay came into tonight's game 18-6 with a 2.84 ERA lifetime vs the Yankees, along with bringing in a 8-4 record with a 1.96 ERA on the season. The way he pitched tonight however, didn't make it seem like that was the same pitcher. In the second inning, with Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada on base, Brett Gardner hit a triple to break open a 2-0 Yankee lead. To lead off the bottom of the third, Curtis Granderson sent a pitch sailing into the second deck in right field for a towering home run to give the Yanks an early 3-0 lead. After Mark Teixeira flied out, Robinson Cano reached on a double. The next batter, Nick Swisher, would send out his own bomb, clocking a pitch into the bleachers in right field, staking the Yanks out to a 5-0 lead over Halladay. In the top of the fourth inning it looked like the Phillies were making a comeback. They scored 3 runs off of Sabathia, but those would be the last runs they would score. In the bottom of the fifth, Mark Teixeira would look to regain some runs as he sent a homer just around the foul pole in right field to increase the Yankees lead to 6-3. The Yankees would score again in the bottom of the seventh, when Francisco Cervelli singled home Mark Teixiera and Jorge Posada to make it 8-3. The Yankees would not look back as David Robertson and Chan Ho Park shut down the Phillies for the eighth and ninth to give the Yankees an 8-3 win.

Sabathia pitched 7 innings, giving up 3 runs and 5 hits, but also getting 7 K's while his counterpart Roy Halladay only lasted 6 innings, while giving up 8 hits, 6 runs, 3 home runs, and only getting 5 K's. Many thought that Halladay's success against the Yankees would contribute to a win.

The Phillies only scored 3 runs in tonight's game, they have scored 3 runs or less in their last 21 games. The Phillies continue to slide, now only 2 games over .500 and in the 3rd place. The Yankees moved to 18 games over .500, still tied for 1st and with a Tampa loss tonight, can take over sole position of 1st place. Alex Rodriguez was not in the lineup tonight due to hip tendinitis and is scheduled to play tomorrow.


(36-28) Mets - 7, Indians - 6 (25-28)
W - Johan Santana (5-3)
L - Justin Masterson (2-6)
HR: (NYM) Ike Davis (8)
(CLE) Travis Hafner (8), Shelley Duncan (2)

While I didn't follow this game as closely as I did the Yankee game (c'mon it was Sabathia vs Halladay!) I understand Johan Santana's struggles continued against the tribe. Dating back to 2007 with the Twins, Santana was 0-5 against Cleveland. Through 7 innings today, he gave up 4 runs, 1 HR, 7 hits and only got 1, make that ONE, strikeout. That's very un-Santana like. As for Justin Masterson, he went 7 innings, giving up 7 runs (6 earned) on 10 hits and 1 home run while getting only 2 strike outs. So not a great performance out of either side. In the 9th, Francisco Rodriguez continued to be shaky, giving up a home run to Shelley Duncan to cut the lead to 7-6. Nonetheless, the Mets would hang on for the win. Barring an Atlanta loss, the Mets will be .5 games out of first place. Who woulda thunk it?

7 of the Mets' 12 hits tonight were infield hits.

So a win for both New York teams as they both push towards 1st place. That'll be all for tonight.