Subway Series at Citi Applesauce: Mets Bats Struggle in Loss to Yankees, Umpire Misses Calls, Santana Back on Track

Game one of part II of the Subway Series saw the Mets fall to the hated Yankees by the score of 5-1 on Friday night. Jonathan Niese was touched up for three runs in the first inning and the offense was plagued by a lack of timely hitting and some suspect umpiring from home plate ump Jerry Layne.

The key play came in the 7th inning, which you can view here in case you missed it. Despite the call being disputed by Reyes and Chip Hale, the home plate umpire Layne stuck by his call after game.

Game two of the series is scheduled for 4:05 PM tomorrow and will be broadcast nationally on Fox. Taking the mound for the Mets will be Dillon Gee and for the Yankees, Bartolo Colon will return from the disable list. Colon, in the midst of a surprisingly excellent season, was on the shelf with a hamstring injury suffered trying to cover first base.

If you want to go to the game and have some money available to plunk down (apparently $45, to be exact), the Mets are selling standing room tickets for tomorrow's game. Tickets go on sale at 9:00 AM at the Citi Field box office.

Some news on injured players: in case you missed it yesterday, Taylor Buchholz will stay on the shelf for the foreseeable future, as he's suffering from a combination of depression and anxiety. Get well soon, Taylor. Manny Acosta's status is up in the air due to his injured wrist. Ryota Igarashi would be recalled in the event the Acostalypse hits the DL. Finally, Johan Santana threw from a mound on Wednesday with no issue. Keep your fingers crossed!

Two people were singing the praises of Jose Reyes: Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley, who'll be on the TBS All Star selection show on Sunday and future Hall of Famer Alex Rodriguez both had glowing reviews of the Mets shortstop.

Mike Piazza will manage the US team in this year's All-Star Futures game. The Futures game, a showcase of the best minor league talent around the country, is set to take place July 10th at 6 PM and can be seen on ESPN2. Binghamton starter Matt Harvey was chosen for the US team, while St. Lucie third baseman Jefry Marte will play for the World team.

Congratulations, Bobby Bonilla! As of July 1st, you're officially back on the Mets payroll! Don't spend it all in one place.

Jeff Sullivan classifies closers celebrations using animated gif's of each closer. Frankie Rodriguez naturally fits into "The Showstoppers" category.

Around the NL East

Not much help in the division on Friday, as three of the other four teams won. Only the Marlins fell, 15-5 to the Texas Rangers. They're now 4-6 under Jack McKeon.

The Phillies won 7-6 over the Blue Jays, despite a predictably poor start from Kyle Kendrick. Cole Hamels will try to make his next start after getting hit in the non-pitching hand with an Adrian Gonzalez line drive.

Jair Jurrjens threw a one-hit complete game shutout as the Braves beat the Orioles 4-0.

The Nationals beat the Pirates 2-1, Davey Johnson's first victory since taking over as manager. The Nats are 1-3 under Johnson. Obviously, they should #firedaveyjohnson for ruining the chemistry, amirite?

Around the Majors

Dave Cameron delves into a really crazy topic: Trading 22 year old stud pitcher Michael Pineda. Wait, what? If he's available, we'll gladly take him off the Mariners' hands, Mr. 6org!

The Frank McCourt case seems to churn out new news daily. Apparently, McCourt had to pay a $5 million commitment fee to secure the hedge fund financing temporarily keeping the team afloat. Some checks paid to Dodgers' gameday employees bounced. It's quite a shame that McCourt was allowed into the fraternity of baseball owners.

Finally, David Ortiz and Prince Fielder will serve as "Home Run Derby Captains" representing their respective leagues in this year's home run derby. This is a brand new format, which will require Ortiz and Fielder to choose the other three competitors in each league. This seems like a strange way to choose the participants.