Projo Sports Blog

By Arthur Staple
Newsday

NEW YORK -- The Mets lost in just about every way Sunday, except Francisco Rodriguez. He won the war of words between himself and Yankees reliever Brian Bruney, who issued an apology to reporters after the game regarding his comments from Saturday, when he called K-Rod "embarrassing."

Bruney tried to deliver that apology to Rodriguez on the field during batting practice, but K-Rod showed the same fire he brings to the mound, needing to be restrained by teammate Mike Pelfrey and Yankees reliever Jose Veras while Bruney stood silently.

"Obviously, I probably shouldn't have said what I said," Bruney said after the Yankees' 15-0 pounding of the Mets. "I made that mistake and I'm moving on ... I guess this is my apology to him. I didn't really get a chance to (apologize earlier)."

Bruney was in leftfield as the Yankees took batting practice and while some Mets relievers made their way to the outfield. Bruney and Yankees manager Joe Girardi implied that Bruney was seeking K-Rod out to apologize; several Mets said Rodriguez was looking to have a more animated chat.

"I saw him walking with attitude and ask the guys, 'Who is it? Is it him?'"' Pelfrey said. "Next thing you know, he was in (Bruney's) face. He was upset."

Bruney incited this brief Subway Series spat when, after a rehab outing in Trenton, he said that K-Rod's blown save Friday night on Luis Castillo's dropped pop-up "couldn't have happened to a better guy." Bruney doesn't like Rodriguez's mound antics; K-Rod fired back after Saturday's game that Bruney "needs to keep his mouth shut" and should try saying those things to Rodriguez's face.

Rodriguez brushed off the subject after Sunday's game. "Boys, I have nothing to say, so don't waste your time," he said. "It's over. Turn the page."

Bruney wanted to do the same, but ended up apologizing -- and expressing some admiration that K-Rod got so heated. "I think that showed me a lot," Bruney said. "You respect a man who comes at you like that. He had some things to say, we'll leave it at that."

Neither manager wanted to continue the fracas, either. "There's a lot of stuff on the street," Jerry Manuel said. "I'm not commenting on what I heard on the street."

"I don't think (the confrontation) were Brian's intentions," Girardi said. "Brian just wanted to talk to him and it got a little more heated than he wanted it to. It's probably good we don't see them for a little bit, so we can let it die down."

A few of Rodriguez's teammates seemed pretty pleased with their closer's reaction.

"The guy's a gamer. I don't imagine him backing down to anyone," Pelfrey said. "I liked it a little bit, but I didn't want to see him fighting."

Bruney is scheduled to come off the disabled list Tuesday and he'll be happy to get back to pitching and talking about baseball rather than shooting his mouth off.

"For me, it's over with. And I'm sure, in his mind, he's not worried about it," Bruney said. "The guy's had a great career and I don't have anything like that to hang my hat on ... I don't have a World Series ring, I don't have the saves record. I've heard he's a good dude, I'm sure he is. It's over with."

 Tags  Brian Bruney Francisco Rodriguez New York Mets New York Yankees

---