Midday Recap 4/13

Mall-ed
Is there an unstated rule that says the Mets are hotter when the weather's colder?  The Mets bounce back from two losses against Philadelphia with a 16-run effort in Minneapolis, where snow flurries showed up during batting practice.  John Buck continued the Mets franchise-best home-run-to-start-a-season streak with his grand slam.  Friday night's 16 runs also enter the Mets franchise record books, tied for the most runs they've scored in an interleague game, and is the most runs scored since their 17-run effort against the Chicago Cubs last June.

Diamond shopping
The Mets will try to make it 11 straight games to start the season with a home run when Matt Harvey comes to pitch in his first career interleague game.  He's 2-0 this season with a 0.64 ERA, allowing only 1 run in his start against Philadelphia on Monday.  The Mets batters will face Scott Diamond, who makes his season debut following left elbow surgery last season.  Coverage begins at 3:30PM on 1230 FOX Sports Radio.

Tiger on the Prowl....
At the time of this writing, it's been reported Tiger Woods assessed a two stroke penalty for a bad drop on the 15th hole on Friday.  Despite the penalty, and losing two strokes on the back 9, you have to admire how Woods has been clawing his way into this tournament.  Tiger remains in the hunt, only 5 back of the leader, Jason Day.  Saturday will be an interesting day on the links.  Coverage begins 2:00PM on 1410 CBS Sports Radio

ECAC Title
The administration of the ECAC hockey conference must be thrilled.  The NCAA Men's Hockey Championship comes down to two ECAC teams from Connecticut.  Quinnipiac has shown why they deserved the #1 seeding, knocking off Union convincingly a couple weeks ago for their berth into the Frozen Four.  Yale has been the Cinderella story, knocking off Minnesota and North Dakota in the regionals, then ending UMass-Lowell's run in overtime on Thursday.  Quinnipiac has won all three meetings this year between the two squads, outscoring Yale 13-3.  But things can be different when the title's on the line.  Coverage begins approximately 7:00PM on 1410 CBS Sports Radio, following Masters 3rd Round coverage.

Appeals
Appeals allow teams to keep players in the lineup while disciplinary decisions are looked at more extensively.  Normally, we'd argue against this, but this could make things interesting when the San Diego Padres play the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Monday.  If you missed it, Zack Greinke nailed Carlos Quintin in the elbow, and Quintin took exception to it and stormed the mound.  Greinke got injured with a broken collarbone in the melee, and Quintin earned an 8 game suspension for his actions.  He's appealing the decision, which may allow him to be in the lineup on Monday.  The Dodger faithful may not take kind to his taking the field.

Ko-uch.
And finally, Kobe Bryant may be done for the season and subsequent playoffs with a ruptured Achilles tendon that he suffered in the Lakers 118-116 win over the Golden State Warriors last night.  He's expected to get an MRI today, but indications already could be that he's done for this season, and could be missing a good chunk of the 2013-14 season.

LIVE SPORTS ON THE RADIO
Today:

• The Masters: LIVE 3rd Round Coverage - 2:00PM-7:00PM, 1410 CBS Sports Radio.
• Mets Baseball: Mets at Minnesota Twins - 3:30PM-7:30PM, 1230 FOX Sports Radio.
• Phantoms Hockey: Connecticut Whale at Phantoms - 6:30PM-10:00PM, Classic Hits Q101.7
• NCAA Men's Hockey Championship: Yale vs. Quinnipiac - 7:00PM-10:00PM, 1410 CBS Sports Radio

Tomorrow:

• Mets Baseball: Mets at Minnesota Twins - 1:30PM-5:30PM, 1230 FOX Sports Radio
• The Masters: LIVE Final Round Coverage - 2:00PM-7:00PM, 1410 CBS Sports Radio
• Phantoms Hockey: Binghamton Senators at Phantoms - 2:30PM-6:00PM, Classic Hits Q101.7

Midday Recap 4/10: Geez... Plus Masters Tee Times, Knicks and Isles prevail

Geez

It was not a good game at all for Dillon Gee, who got roughed up for 7 runs in 3 innings in the Mets 8-3 loss to the Phillies on Tuesday.  The 3 inning outing is his shortest outing in his Major League career, replacing his August 22nd, 2011 outing where he lasted 3 2/3rd innings against the same Philadelphia Phillies, giving up 8 runs on 7 hits, walking 6 batters while only striking out 1.  Terry Collins after the game admitted that Gee had some control troubles, stating that he was about 2 feet off on his pitches.

Two Buck

The Mets home run streak to start the season now sits at 8 after John Buck launched a 2-run blast in the 4th inning.  The 2 runs puts him at 14 RBI's, 2nd best in the majors (Chris Davis, Baltimore, 17).  The 8 consecutive games to open a season with a home run ties the Mets franchise record, set back in 1987.

Tonight's Outlook

Jeremy Hefner (0-1, 1.50) will hope the Mets can provide him with better run support while on the mound after receiving a losing decision last Friday against the Miami Marlins.  He struck out 3 and gave up 5 hits, only allowing one earned run in 6 innings pitched.  The last time Hefner faced the Phillies, he was bruised with 7 runs on 6 hits, and was replaced without recording a single out back in September.  He'll face Kyle Kendrick, who allowed 5 runs on 8 hits in 5 2/3rd innings in his first start of the season against Kansas City.  Broadcast begins 6:25PM on 1230 FOX Sports Radio.

In Other Sports

XIII

The Knicks scored 36 in the 1st Quarter as they easily disrobed the Washington Wizards 120-99 for their 13th straight victory.  Carmello Anthony scored 36 points and was followed with Iman Shumpert's 18 points.  John Wall scored 33 for the Wizards.  The Knicks shot 56% from the field and 55% from downtown, and will take their streak to Chicago on Thursday, where they face the team that put an end to the Miami Heat win streak last month (8pm, Thursday, TNT).

Isles clip Flyers

In the other Philly/New York game on Tuesday, the New York Islanders pushed ahead of the New York Rangers in the standings after their 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Nassau Coliseum.  Jakob Voracek gave Philly the early 1-0 lead, but then the Islanders scored the last 4 goals, capped with a John Tavares goal that appeared to be redirected by Erik Gustafsson into his own net and an empty net goal 30 seconds later.  The Rangers will seek to regain a tie with the Islanders tonight as they try to avenge their Monday loss to the Maple Leafs, and the Islanders will be in Boston tomorrow, leading up to Saturday's key Rangers/Islanders showdown.

Masters Tee Schedule

The 1st and 2nd round tee times have been determined for the Masters.  Of the notables, Stewart Cink will tee off at 10:23AM, Tiger Woods will tee off at 10:45AM and Phil Mickelson will tee off at 1:41PM on Thursday.  On Friday, Cink, Woods and Padraig Harrington will benefit from afternoon coverage with afternoon tee times.  The Masters will be live on 1410 CBS Sports Radio all weekend, so make plans to listen along while you work or play this weekend.

Midday Recap 4/09: Halla-don't; Ware-ing a title.

Halla-don't
It was a rocky start for Roy Halladay, getting smoked for 7 runs on 6 hits, as the Mets defeated the Phillies 7-2 on Monday night.  John Buck kicked off the Mets scoring with a 3-run shot in the 2nd inning.  Then David Wright and Ruben Tejada brought home runs in the 5th inning to blow things open for the Mets.

With last night's 7 earned runs, Roy Halladay's E.R.A. now sits at 14.73, six times his career low of 2.35 back in 2011.

Sparking Harvey
By comparison, Matt Harvey has looked great in his two starts, only allowing 1 earned run in 14 innings pitched, for a 0.64 E.R.A..  He struck out 9 Phillies batters, while walking 2 and giving up only 3 hits in 7 innings last night.

Buck Yeah
John Buck became the first Met to ever bat in 12 runs in the first 7 games of the season after his three run blast in the 2nd inning.  He has three home runs already in the season, whereas last year he only sent the ball deep 12 times as a Miami Marlin.

Home Run Streak
John Buck's home run continues a Met streak, hitting a home run in their first 7 games of the season.  That's one short of the franchise record of 8, which the Mets could reach tonight with a ball over the wall at Citizens Bank Park.

Tonight's Outlook
It might be hard for the Mets to continue that streak as Cliff Lee is on the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies.  Last Thursday, Lee struck out 8 as he went 8 scoreless innings in Atlanta, allowing only 2 base runners all game.  He'll face Dillon Gee, who had a decent outing against the San Diego Padres last week, but got a losing decision as the Mets failed to muster any run support while he was on the mound.  It's lining up to be a decent pitching duel tonight.  Coverage begins at 6:25PM on 1230 FOX Sports Radio

In other sports:
Ware-ing a title
Since the unfortunate injury to Kevin Ware last Sunday, the Louisville Cardinals have promised that they are going to win it for Ware.  And they did in a championship that felt as such, defeating the Michigan Wolverines 82-76.  The game was close throughout, giving no indication that either team was going to walk away champions until the very end, where Louisville got offensive rebound after offensive rebound to help pad their lead.

Outstanding Bench
Luke Hancock was not a starter for the Louisville Cardinals, but played 30 minutes, scoring 22 points on 5-5 from behind the arc as he was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.  It was the first time in NCAA Tournament history that the honor was given to a non-starter.

Leafed
Phil Kessel scored the game winner as the Toronto Maple Leafs edged the New York Rangers 4-3.  Kessel's 12th of the season (and 2nd of the game) came just 39 seconds after the Rangers tied it on Derek Stepan's 14th of the season. Rick Nash scored 2 for the Rangers in the losing effort.  The Rangers sit tied with the New York Islanders for the 7th playoff spot, and only 2 points ahead of the New Jersey Devils and the Winnipeg Jets, who are both outside wanting in.

Lucky 13?
The New York Knicks will be looking for their 13th straight win tonight as they host the Washington Wizards at the Garden.  The Knicks are 2-1 against the Wizards, winning their last meeting 96-88 on March 1st.

Upcoming Live Sports on the Radio:
TONIGHT - Mets @ Phillies - 6:25PM, 1230 FOX Sports Radio
Tomorrow - Mets @ Phillies - 6:25PM, 1230 FOX Sports Radio
Thursday - THE MASTERS - 2:00PM, 1410 CBS Sports Radio
The NCAA Frozen Four - 7:00PM, 1410 CBS Sports Radio (joined in progress)

Midday Recap: Mets, Phantoms, Orange

A collision at home plate seemed to be a changing point in the Mets/Marlins game on Saturday.

Greg Dobbs singled to right in the top of the 7th, bringing Juan Pierre home from 2nd to tie the game.  A throw from Mike Baxter was wide to the right of home plate, and as Pierre crossed home plate, he collided with catcher John Buck.  Immediately home plate umpire Jim Joyce called Dobbs out as he was making his way to 2nd, calling interference on Pierre to bring about the 3rd out of the inning.


The Mets used that momentum and seized control of the game with a 3-run bottom of the 7th as two throwing errors from Marlins catcher Miguel Olivo allowed runners to advance to 3rd on steal attempts.  Both would later score.

A Collin Cowgill homerun in the 8th brought the final score as the Mets defeated the Marlins 7-3.

Today: Jose Fernandez (Marlins) and Aaron Laffey (Mets) both make their season debuts in the rubber match and the closing game of the Mets homestand.  Laffey, an acquisition from the Toronto Blue Jays, went 4-6 last year with a 4.56 ERA.  In his last Major League start, Laffey had a no-decision against the Minnesota Twins on October 1st, going 5 innings, giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits.  Coverage begins at 12:30PM on 1230 FOX Sports Radio.

Overtime Slump: The Phantoms continued their 6 game home point streak, but on the same token, continued another streak in their 5-4 shootout loss to the Rochester Americans on Saturday.  The shootout loss was their 5th straight overtime/shootout loss.  The last time they've won in overtime or in a shootout was January 20th, when they won a shootout against the Albany Devils in Atlantic City.

As far as the game itself goes, the Phantoms gave their fans, as well as AHL President David Andrews, a thrilling and exciting game.  Down 4-2 at the 2nd Intermission, Jon Sim gave the Phantoms hope at 1:31 in the 3rd Period.  Then with under 8 minutes left to play, Garret Roe tied the score with his 11th of the season.

The Phantoms would be outscored 2-1 in the shootout, and now are 1 point away from being mathematically eliminated in the playoff race as they travel to Bridgeport to face the Sound Tigers (5:00PM, Classic Hits Q101.7).

Fouled Orange: With less than 20 seconds left, the Syracuse Orange had the opportunity to tie the game on a lay-up.  However, Brandon Triche plowed into a Michigan defender and was called for the charge, which was the right call, but allowed the Wolverines to cement their place in the title game against Louisville, who rebounded from 12 points down to defeat the Wichita State Shockers earlier in the evening.

Championship: Michigan vs. Louisville, 9:23PM Monday (Broadcast begins 8PM on AM1410 CBS Sports Radio)

Midday Recap: Marlins get first win over Mets

The New York Mets were hoping to rebound from their Thursday 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres as the Miami Marlins came to town to start a three game series at Citi Field.  On paper, they should be in good position to, after all, the Marlins only scored 1 run against the Washington Nationals during their three game series. 

The 1st inning started off well enough, as Jeremy Hefner got the Marlins to go down in order.  Then Jordany Valdespin led off with a line-drive single, and then stole 2nd base.  After Daniel Murphy walked to set up 1st and 2nd with no outs, David Wright lined out.  Ike Davis, batting clean-up, cleaned up the bases hitting into a double play to end the threat.

Greg Dobbs doubled the Miami Marlins season run output with a homerun to lead off the 2nd Inning.  That would be Jeremy Hefner's only blemish, made worse as the Mets could not figure out Alex Sanabia.

7th Inning Mayhem
The New York Mets got on the board in the 7th inning after  Daniel Murphy cleared the left field wall for a 3 run homerun off relief pitcher Chad Quails, who replaced Sanabia at the start of the inning.  The only problem: The Marlins scored 5 runs in the top of the 7th inning off Greg Burke to build a 6-0 lead.  So Murphy's homerun only closed the gap in half.

Turning Point
The Mets would load the bases in the bottom of the 8th after Jordany Valdespin was hit by a pitch.  With two outs, Daniel Murphy would come to the plate, and bounced a 3-1 cutter to Donovan Solano, who easily threw to Dobbs for the final out.  The Mets would again send the tying run to the plate in the 9th inning, but a bouncer to first ended the game, and the Mets would fall to the Miami Marlins 7-5.

Ike's Woes
In the first game of the season, Howie Rose commented that Ike Davis' swing resembled that of the first half of last season when he was going through his hitting troubles.  And after four games of the season, he is 1-for-16, batting a rocky .063.  Of his 18 plate appearances this season, he has reached base only three times, and has struck out 7 times.  On Friday, he provided the third out three times, grounding into a double play in the 1st inning, and fly outs to left field in the 3rd and 5th innings.

RISP-Troubles
The Mets went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position on Friday.  Coupled with Thursdays 0-for-5, the Mets now are 2-for-16 in their two losses this season.

Will Saturday be nice for Niese?
The Mets will try to rebound as Jonathan Niese pitches his 2nd game of the season on Saturday.   Only allowing 2 runs against the Padres on Monday, he'll try to stop the Marlin bats.  For the Marlins, Ricky Nolasco will be on the mound as he tries to curb his opening day loss where he surrendered two solo home runs against Bryce Harper.  Not a lot of time to think about the Friday loss - it's a day game with a 1:10PM first pitch.

Coverage begins with Mets Extra with Ed Coleman at 12:30PM on 1230 FOX Sports Radio.

Midday Recap 04/03: Missed Perfection, Penguins get Sabred

So the Mets were off on Tuesday.

Didn't mean anything else was going on.

Yu misses perfection

For 26 batters, Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish was perfect.  After a 2-pitch 9th inning, the final Houston Astros batter came up with the chance to put an end to Darvish's perfect run.  Marwin Gonzalez broke up the bid with a single that went right between Darvish's legs for a base hit.  

Penguins get Sabred

The main storyline for the National Hockey League this shortened season has been streaks.  First, it was the Chicago Blackhawks picking up from where they left off last season and extending their regulation point streak to 30 games before taking a regulation loss to the Colorado Avalanche.  The Columbus Blue Jackets got hot themselves helping improve their push for a playoff spot.  And the Pittsburgh Penguins went perfect in all of March, capping together a 15 game win streak.  But like how they ended February, they started April with a loss as they fell to the Buffalo Sabres 4-1.

Mike Rice

And by now, you've heard the story about Rutgers Men's Basketball coach, Mike Rice.  He was fired this morning after a video of him throwing basketballs at his players, pushing and shoving them and using racial slurs in practice surfaced.  Originally, Rice earned only a three game suspension plus a fine for his conduct, but then once the video came to public view, brought about calls for his termination.

Mets Tonight

Don't forget the Mets are on 1230 FOX Sports Radio tonight as they host the San Diego Padres in the middle of their three game series.  Matt Harvey hopes to start his season on a high note, overcoming the decision he took in his third game last year at San Diego when he allowed 8 hits in 5 innings pitched, earning 5 runs in a losing decision.

Cowgill's Grand Slam Caps Mets Explosive Opening Day Offense

It was a Spring Training of sorts for the New York Mets.

At first, it was planned to have Johan Santana as their opening day starter, similar to last year when he started the season with a win over the Atlanta Braves.

However, that plan didn't work out the way the Mets would have hoped.

Instead Terry Collins went to Jonathan Niese, who went 13-9 last year with a 3.40 ERA, to kick off the Mets season against the San Diego Padres on Monday.  Despite surrendering a base hit on the first pitch of the game, Niese and the Mets made sure that the base runner wouldn't score.

After a quiet bottom of the first inning, the bottom of the order got things going as Rubin Tejada and Niese would bring home the first runs of the season.

In the 3rd and 4th innings, Byrd was the word as Matt Byrd brought home a run in each inning, helping the Mets jump out to a 7-1 lead.

The game would be sealed in the 7th inning when the Mets loaded the bases.  Jordany Valdespin, who showed he had power last year, grounded and reached on-base on a fielder's choice when they opted to force-out the runner going home.  Then Collin Cowgill came to the plate, and with a single swing of the bat, Cowgill became the RBI leader for the Mets this season as he hit one that barely made it over the home-run line, making the score 11-2.

Scott Rice came in to finish the game for the Mets with a non-save situation, and fanned two of his three batters as the Mets defeat the San Diego Padres, 11-2.

Mets Starting Pitcher Line:
Jonathan Niese (W, 1-0): 6.2 IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 4K, 1HR   ERA: 2.70

Batter Woes: Of the nine starters, only two did not record a hit.  Lucas Duda struck out once and reached base twice on walks.  But Ike Davis did not reach base at all, striking out 4 out of the 5 times he was at the plate.  Jay Bruce of the Cincinatti Reds had a similar fate in his game against the Los Angeles Angels with 4 K's on 5 at bats, however he did reach base on a walk.

Base-Thief: David Wright leads the majors with 2 steals after he took advantage of two curve balls early in the game, helping to propel the Mets offense.

Around The Majors: Bryce Harper is not the only player with a 2.000 slugging percentage after one game.  He is joined with Justin Maxwell of the Houston Astros, who had two triples in their first game against the Texas Rangers.

Next Mets Game: Matt Harvey makes his season debut for the Mets as he goes up against Clayton Richard of the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night.  First pitch is schedule at 7:10pm, with Mets Extra with Ed Coleman getting the coverage started at 6:30pm on AM1230 FOX Sports Radio.