CC Sabathia on entering the Hall of Fame and wearing a Yankees cap on his plaque
CC Sabathia will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame this July and tells USA TODAY Sports why his plaque will feature him wearing a Yankees cap.
Sports Seriously
In a little more than two weeks, the New York Mets went from comfortable division lead to the lowest of lows: A three-game sweep doled out by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Not even a players-only meeting could stop the carnage, as the Mets’ response after a Saturday night airing of grievances was a 12-1 loss at PNC Park that capped a three-game set in which Pittsburgh outscored the Mets 30-4.
Little wonder, then, that the Mets tumbled four places in USA TODAY Sports’ power rankings.
It’s hard to call this a low point since it’s merely the end of June and the Mets are just 1 ½ games behind the similarly inconsistent Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East. Yet on June 12, they held a 5 ½-game lead and the confidence that injured pitchers such as Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea were coming back. Well, Montas gave up a half-dozen runs to the Pirates on Sunday and Manaea now has an elbow injury to add to his oblique recovery. And trusty fill-in Griffin Canning is now out for the year with an Achilles injury.
A look at our updated rankings:
1. Detroit Tigers (-)Tarik Skubal makes franchise history: 13 strikeouts and one hit over seven innings.Clayton Kershaw lined up for 3,000th strikeout at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.3. Houston Astros (+4)They win the Tucker-Paredes-Smith Cup to cap a 25-10 stretch.Ryan Pressly gets some home cooking in Houston as Astros regale him with old Johnny Cash intro.5. Philadelphia Phillies (-)Ranger Suarez is dealing, as they say.6. New York Yankees (-)Twelve runs of support a nice welcome back gift for Marcus Stroman.7. Tampa Bay Rays (-)Brandon Lowe’s career-best hitting streak reaches 16 games.8. New York Mets (-4)Perhaps Jesse Winker – on rehab assignment for oblique injury – can save the day.The Quinn Priester joyride continues with 11-strikeout performance.10. St. Louis Cardinals (+3)Sonny Gray throws first shutout since 2015 – both at Cleveland.Closer Robert Suarez has hit a bump in the road.12. Toronto Blue Jays (-)Dare to dream: A four-game sweep of Yankees could put them alone in first place.They drop a series at White Sox, and Justin Verlander still seeking first win as a Giant.HVAC pitchman Spencer Steer keys ninth-inning rally to take Padres series. That’s pretty cool.15. Seattle Mariners (-1)Big Bummer: Cal Raleigh getting Barry Bonds treatment with four intentional walks over the weekend.16. Arizona Diamondbacks (+2)Kinda need to firmly clear .500 before trade activity picks up.17. Boston Red Sox (-1)Walker Buehler had an 11.07 ERA in five June starts.18. Texas Rangers (-)An absolutely magnetic connection to the .500 mark.19. Cleveland Guardians (-2)About time to toss them in the “deadline sellers” bucket.20. Minnesota Twins (-)Royce Lewis once again set to return from injury.21. Los Angeles Angels (+1)Mike Trout starting to muscle up a bit.Jurickson Profar returns Wednesday from 80-game PED ban – and they could probably use him.24. Miami Marlins (+2)After sweeping Arizona, just a half-game behind Atlanta for third place.Coby Mayo finally clubs first career home run – off a position player.26. Washington Nationals (-1)Fifth last-place finish in six years looking like a real possibility.27. Pittsburgh Pirates (+1)28. Athletics (-1)After seeing Rays’ sweet temporary digs in Tampa, Yolo County will look even grimmer.29. Chicago White Sox (-)Luis Robert back on the IL with hamstring injury.