Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

Miguel Andujar, Greg Bird and CC Sabathia were the game-changers Friday night as the Yankees dominated the Red Sox 8-1 in their series opener in the Bronx. Andujar, who leads all American League rookies in extra base hits, punched his 12th home run of the year as part of a three-hit night. That 4th inning blast with Didi Gregorius on 2nd, gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead that CC Sabathia protected -- and which eventually grew to 8-1. Bird, the oft-injured 1st baseman with a swing tailor made to Yankee Stadium, reached the seats twice -- his first homer immediately followed Andujar's -- in his best game since returning from ankle surgery this spring. And how about Sabathia? At age 37, skeptics say he's too old, too awkward... wrong! Reinventing himself as the prototypical "crafty lefty," he uses control and placement to keep opposing hitters off stride. He worked the first seven innings -- the only real blemish an Andrew Benentendi RBI double. Now, stress the posit...

...the Yankees pulled off a statistical rarity -- scoring on three sacrifice flies in the same inning en route to an 8-0 win over the Tigers. Bernie Williams had the last of them, driving in Derek Jeter for the eighth and final run of the 4th inning. Earlier in that frame, Williams had tripled in Paul O'Neill; soonafter, he scored on Tino Martinez's sac fly. OK, nothing there out of the ordinary. But a few batters later came the quirk that made the inning noteworthy. Yankee infielder Jose Vizcaino hit a fly ball which should have gone for a routine out. But Tigers left fielder Bobby Higginson dropped it. Thus, no out was recorded. The runner on 3rd, backup catcher Chris Turner, tagged up and scored on what was recorded as the second sac fly. But since there was still just one out thanks to Higginson's misplay, the possibility for history was there. And when Bernie came to bat a second time, his fly to right field plated Jeter and made this game one for the books. A...

  One swing made the difference Wednesday night, as the Phillies salvaged the final game of their inter-league series with the Yankees. With two men on and two men out, second-year slugger Rhys Hoskins gave a Luis Cessa breaking ball just enough muscle to reach the right field seats. Hoskins also claimed a place in history as the fastest player in Phillies history to reach 30 career home runs. He did it in his 119th game. Those were the only runs of the night as the Phils got another impressive start from Zach Eflin, who finished off a perfect 5 & 0 June by holding the Yankees to four hits and two walks in seven innings. The rookie Seranthony Dominguez closed it out with a six-out save as the Phils blanked the Yanks 3-0. ( The image of Hoskins came from the Phillies/Orioles exhibition game on March 11th; I caught Eflin against the Brewers on June 10th at Citizens Bank Park .)

  When I saw Tim Tebow six weeks ago when Binghamton visited Hartford, it was hard to envision him as a future major league player. As the end of June approaches, I still don't see it. Monday night, he struck out three times and doubled to the base of the wall in left center (off that swing, below). The bottom line: he's still a strikeout machine and still less impressive than prospects Peter Alonso and Jeff McNeil, more polished hitters who were recently promoted to the Mets Triple A team in Las Vegas. Do you think Tim is picking the brain of Rumble Ponies pitching coach -- and longtime major leaguer -- Frank Viola? What kind of wisdom can the former Twins and Mets ace impart to the college football legend, who so wants to make it in baseball, but is discovering first-hand that the secret to hitting a baseball isn't just brute strength or agility. The fine blend of skills are unique to this sport and can't just be transferred from football (or as Michael Jordan ...

Heading home from our vacation in Canada, we stopped in Binghamton to catch the "Junior Subway Series." The Rumble Ponies, the Mets Double A affiliate, were home to face the Yankees counterpart, the Trenton Thunder. Lucking into great seats in the first row behind the home team dugout, we had a visitor early in the evening. Even my not-really-a-fan wife was totally charmed by Rumble.

Dunkin Donuts Park in Hartford, during a between-innings break on May 7th. Are you really surprised that the donut holds the lead?

Friday night, Odubel Herrera homered for the fifth consecutive game to tie a franchise record. A two-run blast off the Nationals' Tanner Roark was only part of the story for the Phillies center fielder. He added three singles -- a four-hit night highlighting a week where he raised his batting average from .283 to .308. Herrera joined Rhys Hoskins (2017), Chase Utley (who did it twice, in 2008), Bobby Abreu (2005), Mike Schmidt (1979) and Dick Allen (1969) as the only Phillies ever to homer in five consecutive games. And he'll remain in that tie after going 0 for 4 in Saturday's win in Washington. ( This image of Herrera is from the Phillies/Brewers game on June 10th .)

I caught this image of Amed Rosario standing with Jose Reyes during the Mets/D'backs game on May 18th. Rosario often leans on his fellow Dominican native for advice, while Reyes has proudly spoken of taking Rosario under his wing. Here's the problem: Rosario hasn't played like a young Reyes. He doesn't present the same blazing speed. He's not the base-stealer the way Reyes was in his early 20s. His overall game just doesn't exude the same "danger" that his predecessor showed in his prime. Maybe the memory fades with time. But over a decade ago, between the ages of 22 and 24, Reyes led the National League in stolen bases three straight years. And two of those years, he also had the most triples in the NL. That's the kind of excitement Rosario has yet to generate on a big league level.

Mets 1st base coach Ruben Amaro Jr. models the team's memorial patch for the beloved former player and New York civic treasure Rusty Staub, who passed away on opening day. Ironically, Rusty hit his 292nd and final home run, in the Mets/Astros game on this date in 1985.

Wednesday, I added another major league ballpark to the ones I've visited: Rogers Centre in Toronto. Baseball's first retractable-roof stadium, the former Skydome has aged gracefully over its 30 seasons as the Blue Jays home. Home to a pair of World Series champions, it's in the heart of Downtown Toronto, just blocks from Lake Ontario. Here's a unique view -- with the roof open, you can see the CN Tower. At over 1800 feet, it's North America's tallest building. I didn't realize the Blue Jays had a mascot. His name is Ace. Does anyone know why or how he got that name?

Numbers such as 61 (for Roger Maris), 755 (for Hank Aaron), 5714 (Nolan Ryan) or 2632 (Cal Ripken) represent baseball milestones and records. And as of Monday night, you can add another to that list: 1757. That's the number of games Yadier Molina has caught for the Cardinals -- the most by any player with one team. A record that kinda crept up on us. Maybe you thought a beloved figure such as Bench or Berra held the mark? Think again. When Molina caught Monday night's Cardinals game with the Phillies he passed Gabby Hartnett, the previous record holder. Healthy again at age 35, there's every reason to expect that before Yadi's career ends, he'll extend that record to 2000 games or more. Pretty good for someone who, when his career began, was known as the kid brother of Bengie and Jose Molina. Now, he's not only the most successful member of catching's first family, but on track for a plaque in Cooperstown.

...you share it with one of the very best pitchers in baseball, Jacob de Grom . The Mets ace (seen here May 18th against Arizona) hasn't always received support from his batting order, but one stat that doesn't lie is ERA. With the season approaching its halfway point, his is 1.51. Tack on a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio (120:24) and best in the league ERA+ (252) and home runs per nine innings (0.4) and you're talking Cy Young candidate. Last night at Coors Field, the Floridian got his celebration underway early with a typically dominating performance: one earned run over eight innings, continuing a stretch where his ERA in his last 10 starts was less than one! Unfortunately, the Mets don't maximize his dominance -- un-amazingly, they went 2 & 8 in those same 10 games. You might not see de Grom in the playoffs, but bank on him visiting Washington next month for the All Star Game. Who else gets cake and candles on June 19th? Bruce Chen , the Panamanian born lef...

Derek Jeter belted the first (and only) grand slam home run of his career. Facing Joe Borowski of the Cubs, the Yankee Captain broke open a 3-1 game and is the big hit in an 8-1 win Yankee Stadium victory. Jeter later added icing to the cake, with a solo shot in the 8th inning. This was Derek's first homer in 155 plate appearances with the bases loaded. At that point, he had the most at-bats with the bases loaded without a slam among current major leaguers; the same applied to 156 homers. Before the at-bat, Jeter was 45-for-135 with the bases juiced in his career, an impressive .333 average. He had driven in 114 RBIs in those at-bats, but none of those 45 hits had left the ballpark. Talk about waiting a long time -- Jeter's grand slam took place 10 years and three weeks after he made his major league debut.

The years move on, the memories remain vivid. With the Yankees celebrating their annual Old Timers Day on Sunday, the swings toward the late '90s/early 2000s dynasty. For Baby Boomers, our direct nostalgia still stretches back to the '60s and '70s: the five straight pennant winners of the early 1960s, the '70s renaissance linked to Billy, Thurman and Reggie. 2010 was the first Old Timers Day I got to shoot after joining WFAN. It was such a kick to capture images of the heroes and headliners from my baseball youth and probably yours. (Above: Chris Chambliss; below: Gene Michael)  (Above: Bucky Dent; below: Mickey Rivers) (Above: Jerry Coleman; a 1950s star under Casey Stengel, and one of the broadcast team who called the M&M boys games of the '60s; below: Rich "Goose" Goosage.) (Above: around the batting cage with Bill "Moose" Skowron and Bucky Dent; below: Hector Lopez) (Above: Roy White; below: Ralph Terry, Joe Pep...

Pitchers don't have it easy. More than anyone else on a baseball field, they're given the responsibility of keeping the other team from scoring. Pitch well -- hold down the opponent. Of course, fielding and other defensive aspects come into play as well. But in the weeks since the Yankees lost second year man Jordan Montgomery, Domingo German has been fighting for his job. Not only working against the other team, but seemingly against the spectre of Cole Hamels, Michael Fullmer, JA Happ and perhaps even Jacob de Grom -- pitchers whom the Yankees, and especially their fans, might be interested in plugging into the rotation. So last night, the 25 year old righty wasn't just opposed by Blake Snell, a rising star for the Rays, but that quartet spanning Hamels to de Grom. And he more than held his own. After several ordinary starts, where he appeared overmatched -- and perhaps not fully "stretched out" to work as a starter, German has begun to raise his game. L...

...and an even better result. Braves rookie Mike Soroka made his major league debut against the Mets back on May 1st and held them to a run and six hits over six innings. He topped that on Wednesday, flirting with history. In his first start back after nearly four weeks on the disabled list, the young Canadian picked up where he left off -- not allowing a hit until one out in the 7th. Soroka was also economical: in an era when many starters average 15 or more pitches an inning, he threw just 74 in 6-2/3 innings, an average of 11. The Mets fared no better against Atlanta's bullpen, falling quietly 2 - 0. The youngest pitcher in the majors, who won't turn 21 until August -- Mike Soroka was the story. ( This image is from the Mets/Braves game at Citi Field on May 1st )

Didi Gregorius gave two strong indications he's pulling out of that awful slump he endured during May. Two swings Tuesday night -- one in the 2nd inning, the other in the 6th -- for two home runs and two of the three Yankee runs in their 3-0 shutout over the visiting Washington Nationals. You know, there's nothing wrong with watching the ball soar, when you're the guy who put it into orbit! That was his third multi-homer game of the season -- which still has 100 games to go!! Gregorius became the first Yankee shortstop ever to notch three multi-homer games in the same season. Not even his Cooperstown-bound predecessor accomplished that! And let's not overlook Didi's fellow Star of the Game, Mr. Sabathia. The 37 year old lefty held the Washington lineup, bolstered by the return of Daniel Murphy, to four hits and three walks over 5-2/3 innings. Bullpen standouts Chad Green, Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman finished off the combined shutout.

The Mets' gamble that Adrian Gonzalez had something left in the tank came to an end after Sunday night's game. The Mets, still below .500 and clearly not in contention, released the veteran 1st baseman, and recalled prospect Dominic Smith from their Las Vegas farm club. Hitting just .237, he looked a lot more like the washed up player that had trouble staying on the field for the 2017 Dodgers than someone who drove in 90 runs the year before. Now it's time to swing back toward youth. On a club whose best player this year has been outfielder Brandon Nimmo, another product of the Mets farm system, Smith, will get his chance to make the club younger and more athletic. It's a move the Mets had no choice but to make -- especially with young and exciting Yankees dominating the New York baseball scene for the last year and a half. ( This image is from the June 1st Mets/Cubs game at Citi Field .)

The preparation paid off for Zach Eflin on Sunday. The Phillies righthander (seen here with catcher Andrew Knapp) struck out nine batters over six inning, while holding the Brewers to two runs. And Eflin helped as a hitter, with a productive sacrifice bunt in the decisive fifth inning reaching base safely and later scoring. The Phils came from behind with three runs and took the lead to stay.

Aaron Judge has become a lot more selective this season and walks more frequently. So Yankee fans are seeing his bat flip, more understated than most, as he heads to 1st base aftter a free pass.

Brett Gardner's two-run 8th inning homer off Jacob de Grom snapped a tie and put the Yankees on top in Friday night's Subway Series opener. With rookie star Gleyber Torres on 1st, Gardy hit it just far enough, bouncing it off the top of the right field wall as the Bronx Bombers lived up to their name to take round one of this year's six-game battle. The longest tenured Yankee -- and only member of the current team to have played in the old Stadium -- Gardner tends to play bigger than his numbers. I have to admit standing in the camera well when he walked to the plate, "This is his kind of moment." And it was. (Below) Squaring it up, the moment when Brett's bat makes contact. And once ball met wood, there was no doubt that this one was not coming back. After running around the bases, Gardner was in a mood to celebrate his bomb. After touching home plate, it was a good time for a forearm-to-forearm jump. The Yankees added a Giancarlo Stanton solo shot an...