Seventeen Run Applesauce: Murphy Homers, Murphy Homers Again, Mets Head West

Yesterday was fun, wasn't it? After several days of wondering where exactly the woeful Cubs went, they showed up in full force as the Mets drubbed them to a 17-1 final score. Daniel Murphy homered in this one. That was enough, so Daniel Murphy homered again in this one. Don't believe me? Check the box. The Metsies will now head west to take on the L.A. Dodgers, here's a quick look ahead.

Getting through that first paragraph without a mention of R.A. Dickey was tough. It's not that often that we'll be talking about a great day for Mets fans that Dickey wasn't involved in. Luckily the Adam Rubin lobby has some Dickey talk for us, as he looks at the effect Dickey is having on other knucklers. If Brandon Nimmo doesn't up his batting average soon he may need to start asking Dickey some pointers...

We can finally close the book on little Jerry. The Yankee's mascot was wearing out his welcome in Flushing, so the team made sure to find him a new home.

When was the last time you read an article praising the Mets medical staff? Things might actually be changing in Queens, as Will Carroll writes just that for SI. Hell has officially frozen over. #HailSatin Then again, Lenny Dykstra was back in court this week entering a plea agreement, so maybe hell hasn't frozen over after all.

Many have been calling for Scott Hairston to start regularly as of late. Howard Megdal doesn't agree. I'd have to agree with Howard on this one, as his argument just makes sense.

We saw the debut of Anthony Rizzo for the Chicago Cubs this week. David Wright can identify with the level of expectation Rizzo is under. It will be interesting to see what happens when he hits his first extended slump.

Around MLB:

The Braves got themselves a win yesterday, beating the D'Backs 6-4. Matching the Mets sees the Braves remain a game ahead of the Mets, something that will hopefully be remedied this weekend.

The Marlins also managed a win yesterday, defeating the Carlos Beltran led Cardinals. Fish Stripes took a closer look at the recent struggles of Carlos Zambrano, although by recent struggles I just mean the recent trends in a bad last several years. That winter shopping spree seems to have gone well for them, doesn't it?

Speaking of big spending clubs in the NL East that were trendy picks to win the division, the Phillies lost again yesterday. That loss puts them back where they belong, tied for dead last in the NL East with the stinking Marlins.

Finally within the division, the Nats decided to give Jordan Zimmerman some run support en route to another win. The win keeps the Nats 4.5 games ahead of the Mets as Stephen Strasburg's shutdown draws closer.

The Yankees got lots of bad news yesterday. First, C.C.Sabathia was placed on the 15 day DL. then Andy Pettite was hit in the ankle, and will miss the next 6 weeks. Luckily for them, they've built up a pretty healthy lead in their division.

Speaking of pitchers, Fangraphs took a look at what exactly happened to Rickey Romero.

Al Yellon had a bad day yesterday as the Mets pounded the Cubbies. Luckily Al had something else to write about, as Nyjer Morgan shoved a fan. I have to agree with Yellon on this one, Morgan should be suspended.

Over at BtB, they had a look at stolen bases and run expectancy. As always, it's worth a read. If you're into analytics, Graham MacAree had a rant about it over at Baseball Prospectus.