EL BARRIO, EL FALLS – Happy Monday. If you are tired of me talking aobut the Mets, Knicks and Rangers, I don’t know what to tell you. I cant care about the NFL unless it’s the draft or the Jets make a major move. I can only talk about Red Bull NY (soccer) and the New York Ironworkers (rugby) for so long before you lose interest. With that said, here is today’s slate: Mets West Coast Trip, Playoffs, Knicks and Rangers.
Mets West Coast Trip
The Mets are now 23 games into the season and Pete Alonso was the first player to hit 10 home runs. Though they are no Tampa Bay Devil Rays, they are at 14 wins – which has them only two wins behind the NL leader. They are a half-game behind division-leading Atlanta. If you combine this road trip with the start of the season road trip, the Mets have played more road games than any other team in the NL. On this trip, they swept JG Clancy’s lowly Oakland A’s (who are apparently gonna join former stadium-sharers/the Raiders in Las Vegas)… The Amazins also won 2 of 3 against their NY predecessors – the Dodgers – and then split the series with their other NY predecessor – the Giants.
Fransisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo are looking good and they called up Brett Baty after he tore up Triple A after 10 games. Baty has not looked overwhelmed and his fellow rookie, catcher Fransisco Alvarez, has been solid behind the plate but inconsistent at it.
The pitching has been just good enough, although not outstanding. The highlight of the trip was Joey Luchessi pitching for the first time in 2 years after Tommy John surgery and setbacks. Luchessi pitched a shutout 7 innings as the bullpen finished it off. Surprisingly, closer-by-committee is also working. The Mets have not gone on a long streak but they have looked good and found ways to win. That is all they need to do as the starting pitching gets healthy and finds a groove.
Knicks lead Playoffs Series
The New York Knicks are 1 win away from winning their first playoff series in over a decade. They fell asleep in game 2 – or Cleveland came out fired up after losing game one. Back in The Garden with the loud/alive crowd behind them, the Knicks absolutely crushed the Cavs in game 3. Apparently RJ Barrett heard the talk that he was the one holding the team back and made sure his doubters ate their words, as he was everywhere. He played defense and made shots.
In game 4, head coach Tom Thibideaou Thibodeau changed things up and moved Josh Hart to the starting line-up. The Cavaliers put up a much bigger fight and weren’t going to be blown out like they were in game 3. Cleveland actually led in the 4th quarter but these aren’t the same old Knicks. Led by Jalen Brunson, they turned it up another gear and came back to take the lead in a dominant manner. In the final 2 minutes the Knicks made the shots to close the door and walk away with the win.
Ranger lead Playoff Series
The New York Rangers are up 2-1 on the NJ Devils in their playoff series. The NY’s trade deadline moves of Tarasenko and Kane seemed to payoff, as the pair were on the score sheet in Games 1 and 2. The Rangers attack scored in every period in NJ as they won 5-1 in back to back games. With NY hosting the next two games, the idea of a sweep was entertained. The Devils made a change in goalie and it paid off, as the hosts were held to one goal. The Devs won it in overtime, 2-1. The Broadway Blues don’t have to change anything for Game 4, just be more precise with shots on goal and maybe improve their shot selection. I believe they can take NJ in 5. This Devils team is crafty but they cant play from behind, so if the Rangers can score first, they have a chance to force mistakes to put the Devils away.
Thanks for reading and feel free to comment below. Check out Ben Whitney, who will talk about the Yankees and the Rangers.
