Rangers Avoid Sweep
For the second time this postseason the Rangers found themselves trailing 0-2 when their opponents came to town for Game 3, but the match against Boston did not go as well as had the one against Washington. Pyatt scored the first goal of Tuesday’s game early in the second period, giving the Rangers a lead which lasted nearly 20 minutes. The Bruins responded with their first goal of the night three minutes into the third, then scored their second with just over three to play. Though Lundqvist stopped 32 of 34 shots on the night, the Rangers still went down 1-2 and fell behind in the series 0-3.
Thursday night’s Game 4 looked as though it would be New York’s last of the season when Boston took a 2-0 lead 7:41 into the second, but the Rangers would not go down without a fight. Hagelin scored a minute after the Bruins’ second goal to put his team on the board, and Stepan knocked in the tying shot 1:15 into the third. Boston went ahead again several minutes later, but Boyle tied the game once more on a power play exactly halfway through the third. The game went into overtime, and after 7 minutes Chris Kreider scored his first goal to put the Rangers over 4-3. Lundqvist blocked 37 of 40 in the OT win.
Now down 1-3, the Rangers will try to stave off elimination once more when they head back to Boston at 5:30 PM tonight.
Mets Swept then Rained On
While the Rangers avoided a sweep this week, the Mets were not so fortunate in their series with the Reds. After losing the first game 4-3, New York got off to a rough start on Tuesday when a David Wright fielding error—the ball skid right through his legs with two outs and the bases loaded—allowed three runs to score in the first inning. Though Niese held his own for the rest of the game, the Mets were shutout and lost 4-0.
The last game of the series started out well enough for New York, with a Rick Ankiel double driving home Daniel Murphy in the first to provide more offense than the team had seen in 15 innings. Matt Harvey gave up a 2-run homer in the third, but a sacrifice fly courtesy of Murphy tied the game in the fifth. Both teams added another 2 runs in the seventh, but Cincinnati hit Bobby Parnell for 3 runs in the ninth to take the game 7-4.
Last night’s series opener against Atlanta lasted 8 innings before bad weather put a stop to the game. Hefner allowed a 2-run homer in the first, but Duda’s RBI single in the bottom of the inning and Buck’s solo shot in the fourth tied the game. Byrd drove Duda home on a single in the fifth to give the Mets a 3-2 lead which held until Dan Uggla tied the score again with a homerun in the seventh.
The Braves scored two more runs on a Gattis single to retake the lead as rain began to pour down on Citifield in the eighth. Following a Murphy single BJ Upton booted the ball in centerfield, allowing Buck to score and bring the game within one. Rick Ankiel came to the plate afterward and though he would eventually strike out swinging, a wild pitch let Tejada make his way home to tie the game 5-5.
The game was suspended due to rain following the eighth inning and will be resumed today at 6:10 PM. Game 2 is scheduled just over an hour later at 7:15.
Yankees Suffer More Injuries
The Yanks squeaked out a tenth inning victory in the first game of their set with the Orioles, and looked ready to keep rolling forward when Travis Hafner opened Game 2 with an RBI single in the first. The Orioles tied the game in the third when Chris Dickerson homered off of Phil Hughes. Hafner put New York back on top with another RBI single in the fourth, but Dickerson responded with his second solo shot in the fifth. The game remained tied through the next four innings, forcing extras and ending on a McLouth homerun that put the Yankees down 3-2.
The rubber game kicked off with someone other than Dickerson or Hafner driving in a run. Unfortunately for the Bronx Bombers the scoring started in the bottom of the first at Camden Yards; Kuroda gave up three runs on two homers in the opening inning. He would leave the game injured in the third inning, but not before allowing two runners on to worsen the damage that came immediately after his departure; Wieters hit a 3-run blast off of Claiborne to take a 6-1 lead over the Yankees. Homers from Granderson in the fifth and Adams in the ninth gave the team a little extra offensive output, but not enough to overcome the deficit. NY lost 6-3.
The team followed up a rough couple nights with a high level of output in Tampa Bay last night. A Lyle Overbay double and Jayson Nix single in the second combined to drive in 3 runs, which Bret Gardner added to on a 2-run homer in the fourth. They went up 8-0 after piecing together another 3-run inning in the fifth en route to a 9-4 victory.
Unfortunately, not all news was good in Tampa. Curtis Granderson was hit by a pitch in the fifth which broke the knuckle of the left pinky on the hand which he broke during spring training; the new injury will set him back an estimated 4 weeks. David Phelps had to leave the game as well, after being hit by a ball off the bat of Ben Zobrist in the eighth inning. Phelps suffered a bruised arm, but is not presently expected to miss any playing time.
The Yankees still have a 1 game lead over the Red Sox, which they will try to maintain when they play the Rays again at 4:10 PM today. They will finish the series at 1:40 tomorrow before heading to Citifield for the first of four games against the Mets on Monday.