MLB Interleague Play Wraps Up With The New York Mets vs. Yankees

Gambling News - June 29, 2009 - Written by Jimmy

Sunday night marked the end of the annual interleague match ups between the National League and the American League, as the New York Yankees took on the the New York Mets, as part of Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. Since 1997, the two leagues have had annual series, against geographical rivals, as well as opposing divisions from the other league. Before the advent of interleague play, the American League and the National League would only go head to head, in one series per year, the MLB World Series.

When all was said, and done, it was the Yankees that came out victorious, not just on Sunday night, but for all three games in series, as the Yankees swept the Mets, from the brand new Citi Field. Earlier in the month, these two teams met, from the New Yankee Stadium, where the Yankees took two of three from the Mets. Sunday night, the Yankees beat the Mets 4 to 2.

Really, the game was already over after the top of the first inning, as the Yankees scored 3 runs, putting the game out of reach for the Mets. For the Yankees, pitcher Chien Ming Wang took to the hill, in search of his first win of the season, as he faced Livan Henrnandez from the Mets. As mentioned earlier, the Yankees came out of the gates strong by spotting Wang 3 runs. The Mets did respond, in the bottom of the fourth, with 2 runs, but it would be the only 2 they'd score all night, as the Mets dropped to the Yankees 4 to 2.

For Chien Ming Wang, this is the first win of the 2009 MLB Season, bringing his record to 1-6, on the year. He went 5 1/3 innings, throwing 85 pitches of which 49 were strikes. Wang had 3 strikeouts while giving up 3 walks, and 2 earned runs. After Wang left the game, the Yankees bullpen was solid, only giving up one hit, in the bottom of the ninth, off of close Mariano Rivera, who picked up his 18th save of the season.

Livan Hernandez did not get the better end of this match up. Though he went 7 innings, all the damage was done in the first inning, which proved to be too much for the Mets to overcome. Hernandez threw 118 pitches, 56 for strikes, while giving up 3 earned runs off of only 3 hits. Hernandez struck out 3 and walked 5, en route to picking up the loss, which drops him to 5-3 on the season.Next for the Mets is a trip to Milwaukee, to face the Brewers at 7:05 pm EDT, on Monday night. For the Yankees, they play host to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night at 7:05 pm EDT.