NEW YORK – Nelson Figueroa on the mound for the New York Mets made it that more difficult Monday evening for his team to get one step closer to shaving their facial hair.  Last week the Mets made a pact, shave when they reach the .500 mark. But Figueroa, called up from Buffalo to make [...]

BRONX, NY – There is no telling how long this will continue and the New York Yankees will continue to say they are not looking at the standings or the scoreboard. They picked up their eighth straight win and improved to a season high 22 games over .500 taking the second game of a four [...]

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY— Come the end of the season, Johnny Hernandez’s 11th inning RBI single that lead to a 4-3 win over Bridgeport Thursday night might be a footnote or a key victory that can determine a wild card berth.
In the meantime, the Ducks will settle for a win after trailing 3-0 in the eighth. [...]

STATEN ISLAND, NY- Finally, they got going at the Ferry Terminal. There would be no rain this time.
However, that didn’t prevent the Renegades from spoiling the fun putting a damper on the Baby Bombers’ 2009 home opener- outpitching Staten Island (1-5) 3-1 before a disappointed packed house (7,171) at Richmond County Bank Ballpark in St. [...]

NEWARK, NJ— Armando Benitez blew a comfortable lead during a showcase game.
Sound familiar? Benitez wasn’t even wearing a Mets uniform this time. Instead, the Newark Bears closer failed to hold a two-run ninth inning lead in the Atlantic League’s All-Star game Tuesday night, giving up four runs on five hits as the Liberty Division stormed [...]

FLUSHING, NY – Much like a captain of a nuclear submarine, the most powerful man on the baseball diamond is the starting pitcher. He’s the one in control with the ability to set the tempo of the game and can make opposing batters quake in their Nike’s.
Some, like Johan Santana, make it very clear who [...]

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY- It’s not in the Atlantic League charter that the Ducks must claim the most former major leaguers. It just seems that the club has stockpiled the most accomplished players since winning the 2004 championship.
Newark is now challenging the Ducks for the biggest names in the independent minor league, carrying 15 ex-big leaguers [...]

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY- Ken Ray commenced his professional career as a starter before moving into the bullpen.  But while many pitchers switch between the two roles at some point, Ray is making the transition for the third time.
The Ducks right-hander made only relief appearances from 2006-07.  But Ray continued to find a comfort level as [...]

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – On a night where there were post game fireworks for the fans, the Ducks received a spark of their own, to propel them to a 3-2 victory over the Somerset Patriots.
The announced crowd of 6,411 at Citibank Park, were given the lead for good in the bottom of the seventh inning, [...]

Although the Mets have made major changes in the bullpen, one familiar face will be coming out to face batters. Avoiding arbitration, the organization re-signed reliever Duaner Sanchez to a one-year, $1,687,500 contract – a huge raise from the $950,000 he made in 2008.
After missing half of 2006 and all of 2007 with a broken [...]