The New York Mets squared off against the Washington Nationals this weekend in a matchup of the NL East’s first- and last-place teams. The Mets made sure both those labels still applied when they left the national’s capital on Sunday night.

The Blue and Orange swept Washington in a three-game set, outscoring the Nationals 21-8. Carlos Beltran capped the thrashing with two home runs in yesterday’s 8-2 finale and Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez extended his winning streak to four games, allowing just two runs and three hits in seven innings to earn the win.

The game entered the eighth tied 2-2 before the Mets exploded for six runs in the final two frames. Shawn (pictured) Green snapped the tie with his first clutch hit this millennium (or so it seems), driving in two runs with a bases-loaded single. Marlon Anderson then added a bases-loaded double and the Mets never looked back. “We’ve tended to feel sorry for teams when we’ve had a chance to finish them off,” Randolph said. “We didn’t do that today.”

New York extended their division lead to five games over second-place Philadelphia and five-and-one-half games over Atlanta. If you listen closely, you can hear the Fat Lady starting to clear her throat.

After fattening up on bottom-of-the-food-chain fodder since the
All-Streak break, the New York Yankees marched into Jacobs Field this
weekend with something to prove: That they belonged with the big boys.
The AL Central-leading Cleveland Indians—embroiled in both a divisional
and Wild Card race—needed to make a statement in the series as well.
What would give?

Unsurprisingly, the Indians crumbled like a Minneapolis bridge, as the Yankees swept Cleveland in the three-game set. The wins vaulted New York into a tie
in the Wild Care chase and edged them to within four games of the
first-place Red Sox—the closest they’ve been since April 24 (back when iPhones and black people winning Formula 1 races were just figments of the imagination).

The Cleveland lineup did their best Harry Houdini impression,
disappearing into thin air as the Indians scored just six runs the
entire series. The Yankees got much needed help
from newcomers Philip Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, and five combined
home runs from Alex Rodriguez (three) and Jason Giambi (two). There’s
no relaxing, however, since the Bombers battle Baltimore, Detroit and
Anaheim—all who are playing good baseball—the next three series. It
sure makes you nostalgic for those days when all we did was play the
Tampa Bay and Kansas City.