Mickey Togs

The Mets, who are supposed to be trampling weaker opponents, instead were swept in a three-game series for the first time this season, the final indignity a 6-3 loss to the Cubs at Citi Field on Wednesday night in front of 28,522.

The Mets scored a total of six runs in the three games against a Chicago club that has been out of contention for months. Buck Showalter’s crew next will host the Pirates for four games that seemed easier a few weeks ago.

The Mets are amid a stretch of 16 straight games against sub-.500 opponents, and they have dropped seven of the first 12.

“It was a great opportunity,” Francisco Lindor said about the wasted  games. “But at the end of the day, they’re big-league teams. They’re professionals.”

The only positive development around the club is that its nemesis has begun losing, too.

The Mets (89-55) remained a half-game ahead of the Braves, who lost to the Giants and have dropped consecutive series in Seattle and San Francisco.

Ultimate Endless Shrimp is back at Red Lobster and is now available all day, every day for a limited time. This year’s lineup features new Parmesan-Bacon Shrimp Scampi (because everything tastes better with bacon) as well as Argentine Red Shrimp. And, back by popular demand, classic Shrimp Linguini Alfredo has returned to the roster of options.

Guests are invited to roll up their sleeves and indulge in a variety of craveable offerings by choosing two delicious shrimp preparations to start, and when they are gone, order additional shrimp dishes one at a time. Each Ultimate Endless Shrimp meal is accompanied by a choice of side and of course, unlimited Cheddar Bay Biscuits. Insider tip: avoid grabbing the extra biscuit to leave room for endless amounts of shrimp.

This year’s Ultimate Endless Shrimp menu features five enticing offerings to satisfy any shrimp craving. 

Fenway Park is one of the most historic ballparks, and it witnessed even more history as Aaron Judge hit his 56th and 57th homers of the 2022 season, guiding the New York Yankees to a 7-6 win against their bitter rivals, the Boston Red Sox.

With these latest two home runs, Judge edged closer to immortalizing his season in Yankees lore alongside Babe Ruth’s 60 home runs in 1927 and Roger Maris’ record 61 in 1961, which has also stood as the American League record for 61 years.

Judge’s first homer of the night — a 383-foot drive through right-center field — tied the game at three in the third inning.

His next one was even bigger, as he blasted a high ball 389 feet through to deep left field and into the stands to tie the game at 4-4 in the sixth.

“You really just don’t look at it. If you’re checking the numbers, you’re gonna get caught,” Judge said afterwards.

The most homer ever in a single season was by Barry Bonds in 2001 when he finished with 73.

The New York Giants fought back from a 13-0 halftime deficit, upsetting the Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Sunday. The Giants won, 21-20, as Tennessee field goal kicker Randy Bullock missed from 47 yards as time expired.

The Giants, 4-13 last season, won their first season opener since 2016. They had lost 10 of 11 season openers prior to Sunday. The Titans, top seed in last season’s AFC playoffs, were 5 point favorites.

A Daniel Jones to Chris Myarick 1-yard touchdown pass with 1:06 to play pulled the Giants within a point. Coach Brian Daboll went for two points, and a Jones to Saquon Barkley shovel pass was successful, giving the Giants a 21-20 lead.

“Go for the win. We’re going to be aggressive,” Daboll said of the decision to go for two points. “If it didn’t work, I could live with it. I thought that was the right decision. It’s a players’ game. Trust your players and let them go.”

In the New York Jets 2022 season opener, on a dreary and drizzly afternoon in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the New York Jets got the 2022 season off to a rough start as they were beaten by the Baltimore Ravens, 24 – 9.

The first half saw the two teams engaged in a tight defensive struggle. Neither team could get much going on offense as they exchanged a series of short possessions followed by punts.

The Ravens got on the board first with a short field goal and added a touchdown when Lamar Jackson hit Devin Duvernay in the end zone. The Jets closed out the first half with a 45 yard field goal to bring the Jets within 7 points at halftime.

In the second half it was all Ravens. The Ravens put up 14 unanswered points on a couple of Lamar Jackson touchdown passes. The Jets offense couldn’t get anything going. In garbage time the Jets moved the ball through the air, but they couldn’t get into the end zone until it was much too late and the Ravens were never really threatened in the second half. 

The Jets scored a meaningless touchdown in the final minute on a Joe Flacco pass to Tyler Conklin to get within 15 points. Greg Zuerlein missed the extra point to conclude a terrible Jets debut for the veteran kicker.

With the loss the Jets start off the 2022 season the same way they have started every season since 2018, on the short end of the score. 

The first time Brett Baty stepped on the field in the big leagues, he simply took a look around. Then came a moment he’ll remember for a lifetime.

Baty homered in his first major league at-bat, and the New York Mets held off the Atlanta Braves 9-7 to snap Atlanta’s eight-game winning streak.

After being outscored 18-1 in the first two games of the series, the NL East-leading Mets jumped to a 6-1 lead and barely made it stand up to push their advantage over the Braves back to 4 games. And Baty was partially to thank.

The 12th overall pick in the 2019 draft, he came up for the first time in the second inning with a runner aboard and the Mets already ahead 2-0 on back-to-back homers in the first off Jake Odorizzi. After taking a ball, Baty connected with a hanging curve on his very first swing in a New York uniform.

Aaron Judge continues his pursuit of history and putting the Yankees on his back while he’s at it. 

Judge crushed his 54th home run of the season, a two-run shot that broke a tie game in the sixth inning and lifted the Yankees to a 5-2 win over the Twins at the Stadium. 

It was the third straight game in which Judge has homered — the third time he has done so this season — inching him closer to Roger Maris’ franchise — and American League — record of 61 set in 1961. Judge’s 54th homer came in the Yankees’ 135th game of the season after Maris had 53 through 135 games in 1961. 

As usual, Judge had no reaction to getting closer to Maris’ mark. 

“It’s just not important to me,” he said after adding a double and a walk. “What’s important to me is winning. Winning this division first off and putting our team in a good position going into the postseason. It’s not all about me, no matter what happens. If I go 0-for-4 or 4-for-4, it’s not about me. One guy can’t win or lose you a ballgame.” 

Nick Saban will once again become the highest-paid coach in college football after the approval of a new contract with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Alabama board of trustees compensation approved a new, eight-year, $93.6 million contract for Saban, 70, which will include an average salary of $11.7 million over the length of the deal.

Saban will make $10.7 million during the 2022 college football season and $12.7 million in 2029, the final year of the reported deal.

The seven-time national champion coach was previously set to be paid $9.9 million in 2022 as part of a three-year extension agreement made ahead of the 2021 season, which was set to run through the 2028 season.

Saban’s previous contract had been surpassed by Georgia head coach Kirby Smart — his longtime former defensive coordinator — who received a new 10-year contract with the Bulldogs, which included a $10.25 million salary in 2022 and an average value of $11.25 million.

It seems clear now, the Yankees will go only as far as Aaron Judge will take them. 

The Yankees avoided a three-game sweep to the Rays, with a 2-1 win to snap a three-game losing streak, as Judge provided most of the offense with a homer and a double in front of a sell-out crowd of 25,025 at Tropicana Field. 

And the Yankees got a break to finish the game. With the Rays having scored a run and the potential winning run on second, Clay Holmes struck out Yandy Diaz looking on a pitch that appeared to be low. 

The Yankees got their lead in the AL East back to five games — and four in the loss column — over Tampa Bay, thanks in part to five shutout innings from Frankie Montas. 

“It does feel bigger,” Aaron Boone said after the Yankees avoided having their lead in the East cut to three games, which it hasn’t been since May 9. 

“With what we’re going through, to get a big, tough win on the road against a team we’re fighting with for the division is huge at this time of year,’’ Boone said.

Edwin Díaz struck out Gavin Lux on a 102 mph fastball to escape a jam in the eighth inning, and the New York Mets beat the major league-best Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3.

Francisco Lindor hit a tying double in the sixth against Chris Martin (4-1) and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Darin Ruf after the Mets were held to one hit in five innings by Clayton Kershaw, who made his first start since Aug. 4.

NL East-leading New York took two of three from Los Angeles, its first series win against the Dodgers since Sept. 3-5, 2011. LA lost consecutive games for the first time since July 25-26.

Chris Bassitt (12-7) allowed two runs and six hits in six innings for his fifth straight victory, matching his win total from last season with Oakland. He departed after the Mets took a 3-2 lead in the sixth.

New York led 5-2 when Díaz opened the eighth by walking Freddie Freeman and plunking Will Smith. Freeman scored on Justin Turner’s sacrifice fly. Díaz then escaped by whiffing Lux on the hardest pitch of his career.

Adam Ottavino followed with a perfect ninth for his third save.