Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

Ron Swoboda (far right -- seen here with fellow Mets alumni Jon Matlack and Felix Millan at the 2003 BAT Dinner) provided all the offense his team needed on this date in 1968 . A 2nd inning home run off the Phillies' Chris Short powered New York's 1 - 0 victory. Don Cardwell kept the Philies in check, with a complete game five-hit shutout. For those of us who wonder why ballclubs here in the northeast play mostly night games even early in the season, the reason might be in the attendance for this game. On a day when schools (and colleges) were in session, the Mets drew less than 4000 to this afternoon contest in Shea Stadium.

In an early season already brimming with headline-grabbing injuries, the Washington Nationals got some bad news yesterday: Bryce Harper will be out until early July. That head-first slide into third base during Friday's victory over San Diego left him with a torn ligament in his left thumb. Surgery is the remedy -- which means 10 weeks on the shelf.

A tip of the cap -- one with the Curly W -- to Nationals righthander Tanner Roark for the weekend's best pitching performance. In just his second major league season, the Wilmington, Illinois product fired a masterful three-hit shutout Saturday night, as Washington silenced the Padres 4 - 0. In just his 10th big league start, Roark retired the first 16 batters he faced, struck out eight and walked just one batter. These images came from his March 3rd start in Spring Training against the Yankees. It's been a long road to the majors for a one-time 25th round draft choice of the Rangers, who was traded to Nats organization two years later. As recently as 2012, he struggled to a 6 - 17 record at Syracuse. Then last year, it all came together for Roark , who was 9 - 3 at Triple A (in action below on July 4th) before being recalled by Washington. And if the first month of 2014 is any indication, he won't be back in the minors anytime soon.  

With winter still not ready to lose its grip on the northeast, I had to share this image of the Nationals' Doug Fister in the dugout during an April 2nd game. Give the ballclub credit for having custom-designed ski hats for the players. But seeing someone that bundled up early in the season is still a bit incongruous.

As Tom Verducci pointed out on today's FOX broadcast, Yankee rookies John Ryan Murphy and Dellin Betances pulled off a two-man feat last accomplished in a Yankee Stadium home game 67 years ago. Murphy hit his first major league home run, and Betances earned his first major league victory in the 4-3 win over the Angels. The last time a Yankee Stadium first homer and first win took place in the same game was on September 16th, 1947 when Bobby Brown (seen at the 2011 Old Timers Day) homered and Dick Starr (a complete game 8-hitter) was the winning pitcher as the Yankees downed the St. Louis Browns 8 -3, in the opening game of a doubleheader. While Starr rarely made headlines again (he won just 11 more games in a career that included stops with the Browns  and Senators), Brown was a .279 lifetime hitter and valued member of the Yankee dynasty of the late '40s and early '50s, retiring to pursue a career in medicine. He later returned to the game to serve as American Lea...

Howie Kendrick greets Angels teammate Ian Stewart after his home run in last night's 13 - 1 thumping of the Yankees in the Bronx. A longtime Yankee tormenter, Kendrick had three hits and scored three runs, once on Stewart's homer.

CC Sabathia (seen here in July 2013) hasn't always pitched like an ace the last couple of years. But Thursday, he delivered a clutch performance, holding the Red Sox to two runs and three hits over six innings. The Yankees won 14 - 5, making it two out of three in the series at Fenway Park. New York has won four out of the first six this season in baseball's best rivalry.