This week in New York baseball by Jayden Racca
Mets:
Mets ace Max Scherzer found himself in a sticky situation Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles as he was ejected after a routine “banned substance check” following the third inning. Umpire Phil Cuzzi felt an excessive amount of a substance Scherzer claimed to be a combination of sweat and rosin: a legal mixture when used in moderation. Scherzer faces a 10-game suspension he claims he will not appeal. Despite the early-game ejection, New York still pulled out a 5-3 victory capping off a 2-1 series win over the Dodgers. Since their April 13 off-day, the Mets have been hot, winning six of their last seven games, starting things off with a 17-6 rout of the Oakland Athletics. In that time frame, first baseman Pete Alonso has increased his home run total to nine on the season while David Robertson finally allowed his first earned run, raising his ERA to a staggering 0.96.
Yankees:
Aaron Judge left no doubt of who deserved the 2022 American League MVP in Wednesday’s 3-2 extra-inning victory over runner-up Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels. Roaming center field in replacement of the injured Harrison Bader, Judge made a series of spectacular plays that included the robbery of a Shohei Ohtani home run followed up by a bomb of his own in the following inning. After splitting a four-game set with the Minnesota Twins and taking two out of three from the Angels, the Yankees stand as the only team in baseball not to lose a series. Star pitcher Gerritt Cole continued his hot start to the year as he tossed a complete game shutout in Sunday’s 2-0 win over the Twins. In recognition of his performance, Cole went on to be named American League Player of the Week.
Mid-Hudson News has recruited Mount St. Mary’s College (MSMC) junior Jayden Racca to write a weekly roundup of sports, primarily professional sports, as part of the changes mentioned when Michael Martucci took ownership earlier this year. Racca is a Junior at “The Mount” and is the Co-Captain of the Men’s Basketball team. The 6’3″ forward hails from New Fairfield, Connecticut, and is majoring in both journalism and public relations. He currently writes for the MSMC newspaper, “Mount Messenger” and will be the paper’s lead editor for the 2023-2024 academic year.
