Midday Recap: Buck passes the buck to Brown

Eights are Great in Toronto on Canada Day.  A former Ranger and Whale skater is coming to the Phantoms.  Serena Williams is out at Wimbledon.  And Chris Paul is staying to play for Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers.

But the big story is the Mets walk-off victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the late night last night.  It was shaping up to be a tough loss for the Mets as Paul Goldschmidt belted a 2-run shot off Shaun Marcum in the first inning, meanwhile the Mets were able to make base runners, but couldn't get them home.  

With starting pitcher Wade Miley gone after 5 2/3rd innings, the Mets started clawing back, with a run in the 7th and a run in the 8th to cut the deficit to one.  Then in the 9th inning, Marlon Byrd traveled home on a Josh Satin single, and scored when Miguel Montero failed to hold onto the ball.

However, the Mets rally for a walk-off fell short when John Buck, the run that didn't matter, tried to advance to 2nd on a passed ball, and was easily tagged for the 3rd out, stranding Josh Satin at 3rd base.

So in extra innings, the Mets used up their bench, and facing a one-run deficit in the bottom of the 13th after Cody Ross led off with a homer, Terry Collins had no choice but to use his next pinch hitter available, Matt Harvey.  With runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out, Harvey successfully bunted the two runners to 2nd and 3rd. A walk to Omar Quintanilla loaded the bases for Andrew Brown, who took an 0-2 pitch up high into left field to score the two runs needed for the Mets victory.

The come-from-behind win saves Marcum from losing his 10th of the year.  In the means of winning, the Mets left 20 on base, going 5-for-20 with runners in scoring position.

The Mets may not get as many opportunities tonight when they face Patrick Corbin, a 9-0 pitcher who is searching for his first win since June 2nd.  He regularly goes 6 or more innings, with nearly a 3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.  His lone game against the Mets did not go well, only going 3 1/3rd innings as the Mets scored four in a winning effort at Citi Field last season.  However, that was Corbin's 2nd career start.

Jeremy Hefner may sport a 2-6 record, but the Mets have won the last three games he started.  In that span, he has nearly a 5:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.  

THE NUMBER EIGHT

R.A. Dickey's record with the Toronto Blue Jays is 8-8 after the team celebrated Canada Day with an 8-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Dickey allowed 6 hits in his 7 innings pitched, allowing two runs as the Blue Jays evened their record to 41-41.  Mark DeRosa was the biggest contributor for the Blue Jays, belting out his 5th of the year in the 4th inning to plate 3 runs.

NEW PHANTOM

Two American Hockey League veterans are sporting new jerseys today after being traded by their parent clubs.  Danny Syvret, a favorite with the Adirondack Phantoms, is heading to the New York Rangers organization after he was traded for Connecticut Whale regular Kris Newbury.  In 599 games, Newbury lit the lamp 142 times and assisted 297 times.

Syvret leaves the Phantoms third all-time on the Adirondack Phantoms assist list with 67, and 7th in the history of the Phantoms franchise (including Philadelphia Phantoms era) with 112.

SERENA DONE

Serena Williams 34 match win streak is done after losing to Sabine Lisicki at Wimbledon.  The top seed fell behind early and lost the first set to Lisicki 6-2, then rebounded to dominate the 2nd set 1-6.  However, she was critical of her serve in the 3rd set, to which Lisicki exploited to win the 3rd set 6-4.

Serena's departure leaves one lone American left in the singles tournament, Sloane Stephens.  She defeated Monica Puig in three sets after losing the 1st set 4-6 to advance to the quarterfinals.  She will face Marion Bartoli next.

[editor's update: After typing this, Sloane Stephens fell to Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals in two straight sets to leave no American left in the singles field, men or women.  Sabine Lisicki won her quarterfinals match and will be playing Agnieszka Radwanska in the semis.]

STAYING

Chris Paul is staying in the city of Angels after agreeing to a 5 year contract.  The 28 year old agrees to terms on a 5 year contract with the Clippers that will widen his wallet by $107 million dollars, and will give Doc Rivers some options to mull as he tries to build of this year's success in Los Angeles.

Bolla! Extra-Attacker Aides Blackhawk Comeback

No Mets, no Yankees nor Red Sox.  Only four games in the Majors and one hockey game.

Makes for a brief recap, right?  Not this time.

Reuters via Yahoo! Sports

BOLLA!
At 10:30pm, you had to feel good as a Boston Bruins fan.  Entering the late realm of the 3rd Period, the Bruins possessed a 2-1 lead.

It was looking like a Wednesday night decisive Game 7 at the United Center in Chicago was in your grasp.

All you needed to do was to survive the extra-skater attack of the Blackhawks and you'd get to salute the crowd happily and send the Stanley Cup packing to the Midwest.

The Blackhawks had other ideas.

Having pulled Corey Crawford for the extra attacker, the Blackhawks hit gold when Bryan Bickell converted his 13th playoff goal of his career to tie the game with 1:16 left.  Rather than play for what would be the 4th overtime of the series, the Blackhawks with little to lose went all-in, as Dave Bolland was able to direct in the puck past Tuukka Rask to take the lead.

Now behind and needing a goal to stay alive in the series, the Boston Bruins were never able to start a well-orchestrated attack as the Blackhawks become the 2013 Stanley Cup Champions, winning the game 3-2 and the series 4 games to 2.

It's the 5th time the Chicago Blackhawks hoisted the Cup, the first since 2010.  Patrick Cane, who was also on that 2010 squad, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy, the award that is presented to the playoff MVP.

ELEVEN
11 players who were on the 2010 roster will see their names engraved for the Chicago Blackhawks again in 2013.  Two of the 11 were scratched when the Blackhawks won it against Pittsburgh in 2010, but saw playing time last night.  That would be goaltender Corey Crawford and game-tying goal-scorer Bryan Bickell.

One player has the distinction of being on both the 2010 and 2013 rosters, but was scratched for both when the team clinched the cup.  That would be defensemen Shawn Lalonde.

Players who were on the roster for both the 2010 and 2013 clinching games

2 - Duncan Keith (D)

4 - Niklas Hjalmarsson (D)

7 - Brent Seabrook (D)
10 - Patrick Sharp (RW)

19 - Jonathan Toews (C)

29 - Bryan Bickell (LW)°

36 - Dave Bolland (C)

42 - Shawn Lalonde (D)²

50 - Corey Crawford (G)°

81 - Marian Hossa (RW)

88 - Patrick Cane (RW)

° - Was scratched for 2010 Cup Clincher, Played last night
² - Was scratched for both 2010 and 2013 Cup Clinchers.

GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END - MLB RECAP
The Toronto Blue Jays lose for the first time in 12 games as Esmil Rogers got hammered for three back-to-back-to-back home runs in his six innings of work, as the Tampa Bay Rays take the start of a three-game AL East showdown 4-1.

Jonathan Papelbon blew his 4th save in a row as the San Diego Padres came back with three runs in the bottom of the 9th, then walked off in the 10th inning on Kyle Blanks single with the bases loaded.  Cliff Lee was left in to start the 9th, but was unable to generate an out as the first two Padres were able to reach base.  Blanks scored the tying run on a passed ball.

In an NL West battle, the Los Angeles Dodgers drew first blood as a pitchers duel for 7 innings turned into a Dodgers 3-1 win after Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez both batted in runs in the 8th inning.

And the Cleveland Indians scored three in the 6th and 2 in the 8th as they beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2.

Midday Recap: "See You In Pittsburgh"

If you blinked, you missed it.

Ottawa Senators coach Paul MacLean was very brief in his post-game conference following the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-3 victory in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Eastern Semifinals.

He stated at the podium, which his conference lasted all of 13 seconds, that 7-3 was enough said, and "See you in Pittsburgh", where he vowed his team would come to play.

The Ottawa Senators led at the end of the first period 2-1, but then Pittsburgh bounced back with what would become 6 unanswered goals as they take a 3-1 series lead back to Pittsburgh.

FIRESTARTER
LeBron James and the Miami Heat are up 1-0 in their best of 7 series against the Indiana Pacers after their overtime win 103-102.  LeBron James caught the inbound pass with 2.2 seconds left in overtime, attacked the basket, and layed the ball in for the game-winner.

He finished the game with a triple-double, scoring 30, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing for 10 assists.  Dwayne Wade contributed with 19 points before fouling out, and Chris Bosh scored 17.

Paul George, who was responsible for tying the game to send it to overtime for the Indiana Pacers, scored 27 points as he went 10/11 from the charity stripe.  David West contributed with 26 points and Roy Hibbert scored 19.

Game 2 is Friday (8PM, TNT).

IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME...
The Mets would love to rewind the clock and play the bottom of the 8th inning over again.  Tied 4-4 with the Cincinnati Reds.  Given the gift of Zack Cozart's throwing error, the Mets had Marlon Byrd at 1st with 1 out.  Ike Davis patiently earned a walk, setting up 1st and 2nd, and the chance for John Buck to bring home the go-ahead run.

John Buck, who has had offensive woes of late, grounded into a double play, ending the inning.

In the top of the 9th, Bobby Parnell gave up the first runs he has allowed in May, as he gave up a lead-off double to Shin-Soo Choo.  Then he intentionally walked to Joey Votto, hoping to set up a double play.

Brandon Phillips, who already made the Mets pay earlier, did it again as his double brought home the go-ahead run.  Another intentional walk loaded the bases, which came back to haunt Parnell and the Mets when Todd Frazier brought home Votto and Phillips.

Finally, Parnell got his double-play ball, as Jack Hannahan ended the Reds 9th with the damage already done.

Juan Lagares ended the game when he struck out swinging.

Matt Harvey saw his ERA jump up to 1.93 as he allowed 4 runs, all earned in 6 1/3rds innings.  Harvey, who lost an appeal earlier in the day hoping to have one of the earned runs taken off his ledger from the past game in Chicago, struck out 6 and gave up 9 hits.  Thanks to Daniel Murphy and Rick Ankiel, the Mets were able to save Harvey from his first loss of the season with their hits in the 7th inning.

Bobby Parnell took the loss for the Mets.


HERO
Jose Bautista played the hero role well for the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.  He homered in the bottom of the 9th inning to tie the game against the Tampa Bay Rays, then in the 10th inning, his single brought home Colby Rasmus for the walk-off.

The win helps back a decent Mark Buehrle start.  Buehrle, who has been roughed up for 5 or more runs in 6 of his 10 starts this season, pitched 7 innings, giving up only two runs on 4 hits.  He struck out 6.  Aaron Loup earned the win for the Blue Jays.


HISTORY IN THE MAKING
A state High School record could be set today when the Queensbury Spartans take on the Amsterdam Rugged Rams at Queensbury High, as Charlie Peltz looks to be the first pitcher to throw four consecutive no-hitters in known New York State High School Baseball history.

He hurled no-hitters against the Glens Falls Indians, the South Glens Falls Bulldogs, and, most recently, the Hudson Falls Tigers.

The last pitcher to go 3 straight games without allowing a hit was Ryan Dunford, who in 2003 pulled that feat (including a perfect game) for Bishop Timon-St. Jude.  In his fourth start, Dunford went 6 2/3rd innings, allowing a hit prior to the final out.

First pitch is scheduled for 4PM at Queensbury High School, weather permitting.