Team News and Notes Atlanta Braves (6-1) The Braves currently sit in first place in the NL East, and new addition Justin Upton is a major reason why. The 25-year-old has batted .423/.448/1.192 to start the season, with six bombs and eight RBI. The other half of the Upton brothers, B.J., has struggled to hit himself out of a barn batting just .120 to date. On the mound, the wily veteran Tim...
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When the Blue Jays forced Sandy Alderson to take John Buck’s $6 million dollar contract as a condition of making the deal for Travis d’Arnaud, many people including me groaned. I loved the fact that Buck could actually catch (unlike Josh Thole) and would be an asset overall, but six million samoans for Buck was simply too much for me to swallow. Sometimes it’s better to be...
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The pre-game buzz was Matt Harvey being a growing hot property and Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay on a downhill slide. Both bandwagons got a little more crowded Monday night as Harvey was superb as his Mets pounded Halladay, 7-2. The Mets also received big nights from John Buck and Ruben Tejada in winning their third straight game. ON THE MOUND: Harvey gave up a run in seven innings, giving up...
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Last night, at least six times, I heard fans, beat writers and announcers drawing comparisons to Tom Seaver when talking about Matt Harvey. He’s quickly becoming not just a Mets story limited only to the five surrounding boroughs, but a national baseball story as well. A cover on the front of Sports Illustrated or ESPN magazine is not far away. Harvey, 24, had his second...
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Six games into the season and the Mets have used three different leadoff hitters. Evidently, there are answers to be found. One who should get a longer look is Mike Baxter, who started Saturday and reached base three times on two hits and a walk. A lead off hitter needs to get on base, and if not then take the count as deep as possible to give the following hitters a chance to learn what they...
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