Yankees 6, Mets 5: After Comeback, Mets Bullpen Loses The Game

For the first time in a long time, R.A. Dickey had a poor start, allowing five runs in six innings against the Yankees on Sunday night. Dickey was not as sharp as he has been for most of this seasons, issuing three walks and striking out just three. He allowed four of the five runs in the third inning on a Mark Teixeira sacrifice fly and Nick Swisher three-run home run.

The Mets scored one in the third to get on the board, and it was Dickey who scored the team's second run of the evening on a close play at the plate, sliding through the leg of Yankees catcher Chris Stewart. In the sixth, the Mets tied the game on a two-run single by Andres Torres and a one-run single by Ruben Tejada. But they left the bases loaded when Kirk Nieuwenhuis struck out and turned the game over to the bullpen.

Miguel Batista threw a scoreless seventh inning, but he remained in the game to begin the eighth. Robinson Cano was the leadoff man, and in the last surprising development of the 2012 season, he hit a long home run to center field to put the Yankees back in the lead. Tim Byrdak was inexplicably in the bullpen, not in the game, at the time.

The Mets had a runner on base in each of the last two innings but were unable to score a sixth run.

We knew it was over when...

Batista stayed in the game to face Cano.

What else?

All twelve of the Mets' hits were singles.

The Mets play the Cubs, who figure to be a much less formidable opponent than the Yankees, tomorrow night at Wrigley Field.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by Ambient; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.