It is hard to say, for sure, if the Mets have caught up with the Yankees. The Mets, after all, have not reached the playoffs since the Yankees beat them in the 2000 World Series. The Yankees get there every year.
But their first interleague matchup is over, and these are the facts: The Mets are in first place, the Yankees are not. The Mets have a better overall record and a better head-to-head record, too.
They also have better health, which might have been the most important factor in their 4-3 victory over the Yankees at Shea Stadium on Sunday night. The Yankees' depleted lineup stranded 15 runners, and their fill-in starter, Aaron Small, lasted just four and a third innings.
The Mets scored in only one inning, on consecutive homers by Carlos Delgado and David Wright in the fourth. But Tom Glavine and three relievers made it hold up, and the third one-run game of the weekend went to the Mets, who won the series, two games to one.
"What are the chances of having this much excitement in three days?" Mets closer Billy Wagner said.
Wagner was referring to his own performances, which included a victory and a save sandwiched around a ninth-inning implosion Saturday. On Sunday night, he gave up two one-out singles in the ninth before striking out Kelly Stinnett and getting Miguel Cairo to ground to second, ending the game.
"Today was a good game for me, other than the final score," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "We got them on the ropes, and they got some double-play balls to get them out of trouble. You have to give them credit for that. Glavine's been in that situation before, and he's not going to melt away."
Glavine waded through his six innings. The Yankees left nine runners against him, including six in scoring position. A fourth-inning rally ended with Alex Rodriguez's scorching liner to left with the bases loaded; double plays saved Glavine in the fifth and sixth.
"For me, the whole game was a struggle," said Glavine, who gave up two runs on seven hits, four walks and two hit batters. "Nothing was easy. It was mentally as tough a game as I've had all year long."
At least, for Glavine's sake, he did not have to face Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui or Gary Sheffield. Matsui and Sheffield are on the disabled list -- though Sheffield plans to come back this week, perhaps by Tuesday -- and Posada was out with back spasms.
Torre believes the remaining hitters might be trying too hard to make up for the missing. Rodriguez, who grounded into a double play off Duaner Sanchez with the bases loaded to end the eighth, said he disagreed.
"It's been pretty much the same for me," Rodriguez said. "We aren't trying to make up for Matsui and Sheff. We have a good enough team. If the projection was to score 1,000 runs, 900 is just fine. I can't use that as an excuse."
Small was filling in for Shawn Chacon, who was placed on the disabled list with a hematoma of his left leg. Small gave up one hit his first time through the order, which included eight hitters who had never faced him before.
But the fourth inning was different. Paul Lo Duca and Carlos Beltran started the inning with singles, and Delgado stepped in. Delgado, a former minor league teammate of Small's, had three hits off him in six career at-bats.
On the first pitch, Small tried to come inside with a four-seam fastball. He left it up in the strike zone, where he cannot afford to make a mistake with a pitch that tops out around 89 mph. Delgado buried it over the wall in right center for a three-run shot, his 15th homer of the year.
"He's strong, and you can't miss your spots," Small said. "He's a very aggressive hitter. He's always been that way. He got me that time."
The Mets had a 3-2 lead, and three pitches later, Small left another pitch up. Again, he paid for his mistake. Wright destroyed it, sending it soaring over the back wall of the Yankees' bullpen, 445 feet from the plate.
Wright was the hero of Friday's victory, winning it with a walk-off single off the center-field warning track against Mariano Rivera. The additions of Delgado and Wagner made an impression on the Yankees this weekend.
"I think right now, we're pretty even teams," the Yankees' Johnny Damon said. "Adding a guy like Delgado, a proven run producer, and adding a guy like Wagner, who can go in and close the door, those guys can make a big difference to a team."
The Yankees had gone ahead in the fourth inning, 2-0, even though they hit only one ball hard -- Rodriguez's line out. The inning began with a high infield pop by Bernie Williams, who put down his head and bolted around the bases, just in case the wind pushed the ball to the grass.
"He plays the game the way you to try to teach kids to play it," Torre said. "He's up in years, but that doesn't change his enthusiasm for it."
When the ball fell in safely, in front of Delgado, Williams had an unlikely double. A walk and a hit batter loaded the bases with two out for Derek Jeter, who bounced a two-hopper to the left side. The ball skipped past Wright and then bounced off the glove of shortstop Jose Reyes, who was behind him, going to his right. There were no errors on the play, and it went for a two-run single.
The Yankees would add just one more run, despite putting 11 more runners on base. Aaron Heilman and Sanchez wiggled free of bases-loaded jams before Wagner survived the ninth.
The Mets and the Yankees will part now, leaving each other for midweek series against their closest division rivals. The Mets will play host to the Phillies, and the Yankees will travel to Boston.
The Subway Series resumes on June 30 at Yankee Stadium, when the Yankees hope to be healthier. Even so, they might not be the neighborhood bully anymore.
Giants 6, athletics 0
Barry Bonds went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and an intentional walk and Matt Cain pitched a one-hitter in the San Francisco Giants' anticlimactic 6-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics in interleague play on Sunday.
Bonds remained at 714 home runs a day after connecting for a solo shot to tie Babe Ruth for second behind major league home run king Hank Aaron's 755.
Mark Sweeney hit a two-run double, Randy Winn singled in two runs and Ray Durham drove in a run on a groundout to help Cain (2-5) end a three-game losing streak. Cain got his second career complete game and first shutout, and San Francisco took two of three in the Bay Bridge Series to win its second straight series. Cain struck out five and walked three.
The Giants knocked A's starter Joe Blanton (4-5) out of the game after four innings for his shortest outing of the year.
Devils Rays 3, Marlins 0
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Scott Kazmir allowed four hits and matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts in eight innings, leading Tampa Bay over Dontrelle Willis and Florida.
Kazmir (7-2) held the Marlins to three singles and Miguel Cabrera's fourth-inning double en route to a career-best fifth straight win. At 22, he's the youngest major league pitcher to win seven games this early in a major league season since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981. He walked one and hit a batter. Tyler Walker worked the ninth for his eighth save.
Jonny Gomes keyed a three-run fifth inning with a RBI triple off Willis (1-5), who allowed eight hits in his first complete game of the season. Ty Wigginton and Greg Norton also drove runs for the Devil Rays, who swept the weekend series and have won a season-high four straight games.
The Marlins have lost seven in a row, their longest skid since losing eight straight in July 2002.
Tigers 1, Reds 0
At Detroit, Placido Polanco's pinch-hit single in the eighth inning broke a scoreless tie, and Nate Robertson tossed 7 1-3 innings to lead the host Tigers.
Robertson struck out seven, walked five and allowed three hits. Fernando Rodney (3-1) and Todd Jones combined to throw 1 2-3 hitless innings with Jones getting his 13th save. Jones set a franchise record with his 155th save with the Tigers, moving one ahead of Mike Henneman.
Detroit has won nine of 10.
Cincinnati starter Aaron Harang (5-3) pitched eight innings for his third career complete game.
Nationals 3, Orioles 1
At Washington, Livan Hernandez snapped a seven-start winless streak and lifted Washington over Baltimore.
Hernandez (2-5) limited Baltimore to one run in seven innings, despite giving up four walks and six hits, though all were singles. He hadn't earned a victory since April 8 at Houston.
The burly right-hander helped himself by driving in a run with a sacrifice bunt in the fourth, when Washington scored twice off Orioles starter Bruce Chen (0-5).
Chen gave up three runs and seven hits over four innings.
Mike Stanton pitched a perfect eighth for the Nationals, and Chad Cordero worked the ninth for his fifth save. That sealed a rare series victory for Washington, which won the last two games of its ``Battle of the Beltway'' set against Baltimore.
Indians 3, Pirates 2, 10 innings
At Cleveland, Grady Sizemore singled home the winning run with two outs in the 10th inning to give Bob Wickman his first win in nearly four years.
The host Indians won for the fifth time in six games and improved to 17-4 in interleague play over the past two years.
Aaron Boone lined a two-out single off Pittsburgh's Mike Gonzalez (1-2) and hustled to third on a double by Ronnie Belliard.
Sizemore, who was 0-for-5 with four strikeouts, then hit a 3-2 pitch over the head of right fielder Jeromy Burnitz to win it.
Wickman (1-0) earned his first win since he threw a scoreless inning for Cleveland against Texas on Aug. 10, 2002. He also worked two innings for the first time since July 2001.
Cardinals 10, Royals 3
At Kansas City, Missouri, Albert Pujols homered in his third straight game and St. Louis beat Kansas City to complete a three-game sweep and send the Royals to their ninth straight loss.
Kansas City (10-31) has the worst record in Major League Baseball and has been swept nine times this season.
Pujols, who leads the majors with 22 home runs in St. Louis' 44 games, reached the homer mark in the second-fewest games in MLB history. Barry Bonds did it in 43 games in 2001. Pujols is also first with 56 runs scored and 118 total bases.
The Cardinals have won five straight for the first time since July 2005. They have won 10 of 11 from Kansas City.
Chris Duncan, recalled from Triple-A Memphis on Sunday, and Hector Luna homered in the fifth off Scott Elarton (0-5), winless in 10 starts.
Jeff Suppan (5-3), who pitched for Kansas City from 1998-2002, beat the Royals for the first time in five career outings.
Phillies 10, Red Sox 5
At Philadelphia, Bobby Abreu drove in five runs to help Philadelphia snap a five-game losing streak.
Abreu singled, tripled and homered and Ryan Howard also hit a shot for the Phillies, who won 13 of 14 before their losing skid began in Milwaukee. Cory Lidle pitched six solid innings.
Kevin Youkilis and Mike Lowell homered for Boston.
Lidle (4-4) gave up three runs and five hits. DiNardo (1-2) couldn't get past the third inning in his fifth start.
Needing a double for the cycle, Abreu walked on five pitches against Rudy Seanez in the seventh. He finished 3-for-3 with two walks.
Astros 5, Rangers 0
At Houston, Taylor Buchholz pitched a five-hitter for his first career shutout as Houston beat Texas.
Buchholz (3-3) had lost his last two starts, allowing eight earned runs in each game. He walked none and struck out a career-high six in his first career complete game.
The Astros took two of three from the Rangers, but still have lost 11 of 16 games.
Morgan Ensberg and Jason Lane provided all the offense Buchholz would need, each hitting two-run homers.
Rangers starter John Koronka (4-2) had won four straight games since an opening loss to Detroit April 4.
Brewers 5, Twins 3
At Milwaukee, Carlos Lee's two-run double keyed a four-run seventh inning to lift Milwaukee over Minnesota, hours after the visiting Twins won funding for a new stadium.
Chris Capuano (5-3) won for the first time in four starts. Derrick Turnbow pitched the ninth for his 14th save.
The Brewers rallied against reliever Jesse Crain (0-2), who gave up four runs while only getting one out.
The comeback spoiled the major-league debut of Twins' right-hander Boof Bonser, a former first-round draft choice who pitched six solid innings. He held the Brewers to 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Cubs 7, White Sox 4
At Chicago, Michael Barrett, booed for his punch which set off a brawl the day before, delivered a game-tying triple, and Jacque Jones followed with a two-run homer in the eighth as the visiting Cubs rallied to beat the crosstown White Sox 7-4 to avert a sweep.
Carlos Zambrano (3-2) got the win, allowing four hits in seven innings, including two homers to Paul Konerko. Ryan Dempster pitched the ninth for his eighth save.
But with the White Sox leading 4-2 and Jose Contreras looking strong in his first start since May 4 after coming off the disabled list, the Cubs staged a rally, thanks to a poor throw from White Sox shortstop Juan Uribe on a potential double play.
Neal Cotts (0-2) took the loss.
Aramis Ramirez homered twice off Contreras, who got a no-decision in 7 1-3 innings and still hasn't lost a regular-season game since last Aug. 15. He'd been on the DL with sciatica.
Rockies 5, Blue Jays 3
At Denver, Garrett Atkins drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double, Josh Fogg snapped a six-game winless streak, and Colorado completed a three-game sweep of Toronto.
It was the fourth sweep of the season for Colorado (25-19), which matched its best start after 44 games.
Fogg (3-2), who hadn't won since April 13, allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings. He had given up 20 earned runs in 34 2-3 innings over his previous six starts.
Brian Fuentes worked the ninth for his 10th save.
Ted Lilly (4-4) allowed five runs and six hits in 1 2-3 innings for the Blue Jays, who were swept for the first time this year.
Mariners 10, Padres 8
At Seattle, Raul Ibanez and Carl Everett homered during an eight-run second inning to help Seattle beat San Diego and finish a weekend sweep.
The Mariners swept their first series of the year -- after losing all three games of a series at Oakland.
The Padres, who began May by going 13-1, were swept in a series for the third time this season.
Chan Ho Park (2-2) entered having allowed one earned run in 22 innings but gave up 10 runs to Seattle in 5 1-3 innings, the most earned runs he had allowed since June 21, 1998.
Felix Hernandez (3-5), the Mariners' 2005 rookie phenom, allowed a career-high seven earned runs, one start after allowing 10 runs and five earned at Oakland. He managed to get the win, and J.J. Putz earned his sixth save.
Dodgers 7, Angels 0
At Los Angeles, Derek Lowe allowed three hits in seven shutout innings for his first win since April 13, Andre Ethier hit a three-run homer, and the host Dodgers beat the Angels to complete a three-game sweep of the interleague series.
Lowe (2-3) threw 118 pitches before being lifted for a pinch hitter. The 32-year-old right-hander walked three, struck out seven and didn't allow a hit after Garret Anderson's single in the third, retiring 13 of the last 15 batters he faced.
Rookie Jonathan Broxton worked the final two innings to complete the shutout.
The win was the fourth straight and 12th in 15 games for the Dodgers. They outscored the Angels 31-7 in the series.
The Angels have lost five straight and 17 of 22.
The Dodgers scored all the runs they would need off Ervin Santana (4-2) in the first.
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