2012 Stanley Cup playoffs — New York Rangers’ John Tortorella rips New Jersey Devils’ tactics

Lundqvist Blanks Devils

NEW YORK — In a heated Hudson River clash that is threatening to become pretty nasty, the gloves were officially dropped Sunday when Rangers coach John Tortorella ripped the Devils, accusing them of selling penalty calls and skirting the rules.

Livid with Devils coach Pete DeBoer’s postgame comments about Rangers tough guy Brandon Prust — DeBoer said Prust was “head-hunting” on an elbowing play that left Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov shaken up — Tortorella rattled off his own litany of complaints.

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He began with two incidents involving Devils players — a hit from Dainius Zubrus on Anton Stralman in the first period and Zach Parise‘s on Michael Del Zotto in the third — and didn’t stop there.

“I look at Zubrus’ elbow to Stralman, I look at Parise launching himself into Del Zotto,” Tortorella said. “Maybe if our players stay down on the ice, we’ll get something.”

Tortorella said his players are instructed not to embellish and hinted that he doesn’t feel the same about the Devils.

“We tell our players ‘Don’t stay down on the ice, get up.’ I hope … I’ll leave it at that,” he said.

Tortorella also said he feels the Devils are using moving screens to free up Ilya Kovalchuk while on the power play.

“The picking on the power play, set plays, picking on the power play. We want to start discussing officials with the media, I have a long list here,” he said. “That’s a set play by Jersey, picking so we cant get to Kovalchuk to block a shot. You want some more …?”

DeBoer was tight-lipped Sunday when told of the accusations directed toward his team.

In one word, DeBoer responded: “Comical.”

Tortorella referenced Kovalchuk’s first-period power-play goal in Game 2, in which the star sniper had a clear shooting lane. As Devils defenseman Marek Zidlicky swung the puck from the point to Kovalchuk at the left circle, defenseman Dan Girardi got entangled with Devils forward Patrik Elias as he tried to shift with the play. After the goal, which gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead, Girardi threw up his hands in frustration and skated over to the nearest on-ice official, presumably to complain about what he felt to be a missed interference penalty.

“I brought this up already. It’s a set play,” Tortorella said. “They know we’re trying to block shots on a pretty good shooter by them. It happened to Danny. I hope we look for it.”

This isn’t the first time the fiery coach has blasted an opponent. Tortorella, who has also been fined $50,000 for criticizing officials in two incidents earlier this season, engaged in a vicious verbal battle with DeBoer back in March.

The two coaches barked at each other both before and after the teams’ final regular-season meeting on March 19 over an orchestrated opening-faceoff line brawl that featured six players dropping the gloves three seconds into play of the Rangers’ 4-2 win.

DeBoer called Tortorella a “hypocrite” after that debacle.

Wrapping up his rant Sunday, Tortorella openly admitted his intent in unleashing his fury through the media.

“So there’s some gamesmanship right there, huh?”

ESPN.com’s Scott Burnside contributed to this report.

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Francisco, Mets get off schneid in T.O.

Mets Avoid Sweep

TORONTO — Mike Baxter had three hits and came within a home run of the cycle, Dillon Gee won for the first time in four starts and the New York Mets held on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Sunday.

Baxter doubled and scored in the first, tripled home a run in the second and singled and scored in the fifth to help the Mets avoid a three-game sweep. Baxter had two chances to complete his cycle, but he grounded out in the sixth and walked in the eighth.

New York third baseman David Wright, who missed Saturday’s game due to illness, returned to the lineup and went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a walk, raising his majors-leading average to .412. Wright also struck out twice, once with the bases loaded.

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Jose Bautista homered for Toronto, his 11th, but the Blue Jays failed to extend their season-high four-game winning streak.

Gee (3-3) allowed three runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings, leaving for reliever Bobby Parnell after Bautista’s RBI single in the seventh. He walked four and struck out six.

Parnell worked one inning, Tim Byrdak got one out in the eighth and Frank Francisco finished for his 10th save in 12 chances.

Yunel Escobar walked to begin the ninth and moved to second on Bautista’s single, but Francisco ended it by striking out Edwin Encarnacion, J.P. Arencibia and Eric Thames.

The Mets had lost four of five coming in but improved to 12-6 in day games.

New York opened the scoring with three runs in the first. Andres Torres walked, Baxter doubled and Wright followed with a two-run double to center. Two outs later, Wright scored when center fielder Colby Rasmus couldn’t hold on to Kirk Nieuwenhuis‘ bloop double, with the ball dropping out of his glove after a sliding catch. Manager John Farrell came out to argue with umpire Mark Wegner, but the call stood.

The Mets added one more in the second when Ronny Cedeno led off with a single and scored on Baxter’s two-out triple to right.

Toronto answered in the bottom half on an RBI single by Yan Gomes, and cut it to 4-2 on Bautista’s leadoff drive to left in the third.

New York pushed its lead back to four and chased Blue Jays right-hander Henderson Alvarez with a two-run fifth. Daniel Murphy grounded an RBI single to center and Ike Davis drove in a run with a fielder’s choice.

Bautista chased Gee with an RBI single in the seventh and Toronto closed to within 6-5 by scoring twice off Parnell in the eighth. Arencibia and Thames hit consecutive doubles and Colby Rasmus snapped an 0-for-20 slump with an RBI single.

Alvarez (3-4) lost his second straight start and matched a career-high by giving up six earned runs, as many as he’d allowed in his previous five starts combined. Alvarez allowed nine hits in a season-low five innings, walked two and struck out three.

The slumping Davis went 1 for 4 with a double, raising his average to .163, but was replaced by pinch-hitter Scott Hairston with men at first and second in the ninth.

NOTES: The Mets placed RHP Miguel Batista (back) on the 15-day DL and recalled RHP Chris Schwinden from Triple-A Buffalo. … Rasmus returned to the lineup after failing to start the past two games. … Bautista started at DH Sunday, with Ben Francisco starting in RF. Francisco was replaced by Rajai Davis in the sixth after complaining of a tight left hamstring. … Blue Jays 1B Edwin Encarnacion fell into the camera bay next to the visitor’s dugout while catching a foul pop up by Cedeno for the final out of the fifth. … The crowd of 41,867 was Toronto’s biggest since an opening day sellout.

CC, Yanks lose rubber game to Reds

Reds Take Series With Yankees

NEW YORK — Johnny Cueto pitched effectively into the eighth inning, Ryan Ludwick delivered two big hits and the Cincinnati Reds closed out their extended visit to New York by beating the Yankees 5-2 Sunday.

The Reds rallied late against CC Sabathia, sending the Yankees to their fifth loss in six games. Aroldis Chapman closed it out as Cincinnati took two of three at Yankee Stadium, right after splitting a pair at Citi Field against the Mets.

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Cueto (5-1) gave up a two-run homer to Raul Ibanez in the sixth. The Yankees had plenty of traffic against him, but couldn’t score more.

Reds manager Dusty Baker mixed and matched his bullpen the rest of the way, using Sean Marshall and Logan Ondrusek to get through the eighth. Chapman, the closer for at least a day, worked a hitless ninth for his first save of the season and the second of his major league career.

The hard-throwing lefty has not allowed an earned run in 22 1/3 innings this season, striking out 39.

Cincinnati had been blanked on two singles before Ludwick homered on Sabathia’s first pitch of the seventh. An out later, Ryan Hanigan tied it when he crushed an 0-2 pitch deep to left-center for his first homer of the season.

Zack Cozart followed with a one-hop single off Sabathia (5-2). And with two outs, the big lefty suddenly lost the plate, walking Drew Stubbs, Joey Votto and then Brandon Phillips on a full count to force home the go-ahead run.

That bout of wildness marked only the third time in Sabathia’s 12-season career that he had walked three batters in a row, STATS LLC said.

Ludwick hit a two-out, two-run double off the glove of diving left fielder Dewayne Wise in the ninth. Ludwick had missed the past two games with a bruised left elbow after being plunked by Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

Ibanez, who had faced Cueto more than any other Yankees hitter from his days in the NL, broke open a scoreless game by pulling a two-run homer into the second deck. Ibanez connected for his ninth home run on an afternoon when manager Joe Girardi gave him a “half day,” moving him from the outfield to the DH slot.

New York hitters had been in a 5-for-57 rut with runners in scoring position when Ibanez homered one out after Robinson Cano‘s leadoff double.

It was Bat Day at Yankee Stadium — for the fans, not the hitters in the early going. Through the middle innings, the Cueto-Sabathia duel was as good as advertised.

Sabathia didn’t allow a hit until Todd Frazier grounded a single in the fifth. Chris Heisey popped up and stranded two runners that inning, and Phillips grounded into a double play with two on and no outs in the sixth.

Cueto gave up exactly one single in each of the first five innings. Yet only once did the Yankees get a runner past first base in that span — after a pair of four-pitch walks, Alex Rodriguez flied out on the first pitch to end the third.

Game notes

Sabathia walked five, his most since April 2010. … Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira didn’t start any game in the series as he tries to shake his bronchitis. He pinch hit in the ninth and reached on an error. … Yankees OF Brett Gardner (strained right elbow) isn’t expected to pick up a bat until Thursday. … Reds INF Wilson Valdez turned 34. … RHP Mike Leake (0-5) starts for the Reds at home Monday night vs. Atlanta LHP Mike Minor (2-3). … Yankees RHP Hiroki Kuroda (3-5) starts at home Monday night vs. Kansas City RHP Felipe Paulino (1-1).

Bookshelf: Books on Rejected New Yorker Covers, and the Guilt of Aaron Burr

In this survey of unpublished covers and controversial ones that made it into print, Ms. Mouly examines the murky border between outrageousness and offensiveness. Her account is as engaging as it is instructive.

The sketches that did not become covers “are far from the rejected byproduct of my work as an editor,” she writes. “They are its lifeblood. These sassy, funny, vital outbursts not only provide the germ from which more refined ideas spring, but they also shed light on the monumental work the artists engage in, week after week, as they ponder our world and its follies in search of ideas.”

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“American Showman: Samuel ‘Roxy’ Rothafel and the Birth of the Entertainment Industry” (Columbia University Press, $37.50) takes a look at a largely forgotten early-20th-century impresario. Older New Yorkers will remember Rothafel’s 5,920-seat Roxy Theater on West 50th Street, and you can still see stage shows at his Radio City Music Hall.

But this modest legacy belies the breadth of Rothafel’s influence. As Ross Melnick, a film professor at Oakland University, writes, “Roxy scored motion pictures, produced enormous stage shows, managed many of New York’s most important movie houses, directed and/or edited propaganda films for the American war effort, edited newsreels and produced short and feature-length films, exhibited foreign, documentary, independent and avant-garde films, and expanded the conception of mainstream, commercial cinema.”

Dr. Melnick skillfully captures the substance and durability of Rothafel’s prolific life. As he states unapologetically, though, his is a scholarly biography — the first, he writes, “to analyze the multidimensional work of a single American motion picture exhibitor in the silent and early sound film eras.”

If Rothafel were still alive, he would probably have interrupted the text every once in a while for a brief intermission or, better yet, an exhilarating appearance by his Roxyettes (the former Missouri Rockets, whom Rothafel recruited for the Roxy and who later followed him to Radio City, where they became the Rockettes).

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Aaron Burr is best remembered for fatally shooting Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804 (in New Jersey, because dueling was prosecuted more vigorously in New York). But in “The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr” (Anchor Books, $15), H. W. Brands brings to life Burr’s forgotten contributions as a Revolutionary War hero and politician, as well as the shame that shadowed him for the rest of his life after Hamilton’s death.

Dr. Brands recounts Burr’s travails in part through his intimate letters to his daughter (passing a day with Quakers in Pennsylvania, he was impressed by their taciturn nature, teasing, “How particularly desirable this in a wife”). Hamilton dies by Page 62, leaving the rest of this biography (told in the present tense) to deal selectively with Burr’s legal and political struggles and, most of all, with his personal anguish.

Neighborhood Joint | Midtown: The Drama Book Shop Caters to Actors, and Nurtures Them

Allen Hubby, who owns the store with his aunt Rozanne Seelen, first feared they had been pranked. “I thought someone was kidding me: a bookstore wins a Tony?” he said. But for the drama devotees who flock to this shop, the honorary award for “Excellence in the Theater” was, if anything, long overdue.

The business has tended to actors desperately seeking the antidote to anonymity — star-making monologues for break-a-leg auditions — since Marjorie Seligman began selling plays in a theater lobby in 1917. It incorporated in 1923 and hopscotched around Broadway for seven decades until, priced out of a Disneyfied Times Square, it landed at 250 West 40th Street in 2001. Its clientele followed right on cue.

“You go out of your way to come here because you always know it’s going to have the play you need,” Femi Sarah Heggie, a stage manager and director, said while waiting in the cashier line clutching “The Amen Corner,” by James Baldwin. “I knew they wouldn’t have it at B N, and they didn’t.”

Secure in its reputation as the city’s best source for theatrical works — it keeps 8,000 plays in stock — the shop has begun to nurture and sponsor them, as well. When a troupe with a musical that originated at Wesleyan University needed urban rehearsal space in 2002, it received carte blanche to convene downstairs in the store’s 50-seat Arthur Seelen Theater, named for Ms. Seelen’s late husband. “In the Heights” went on to win several Tony Awards in 2008.

The bookshop also hosts monthly events, like one in April with the directors Roger Rees and Alex Timbers and the writer Rick Elice, all of the Tony-nominated hit “Peter and the Starcatcher.”

Mr. Elice, 55, who also co-wrote the book for “Jersey Boys,” recalled that he first visited the store at age 13: “I remember sitting in the bookstore watching all these actors and directors coming in and out and thinking, ‘This is the world I want to live in.’ ”

On the main floor, patrons post casting calls and other dollops of theatrical catnip on a giant bulletin board by the entrance. Chairs, some of them authentic theater seats cadged from a shuttered Philadelphia playhouse, are sprinkled around, inviting browsers to relax and read — or to memorize monologues selected especially for them by the staff members, all of whom have backgrounds in theater and the visual arts.

Abigail Hardin, 25, an actress-musician who moonlights as a salesclerk here, first came to the shop in a stroller pushed by her actress-mother, Annie Chadwick; Ms. Hardin said hers was “the perfect day job for anyone in the performing arts.”

“Cher used to come in back in the days when Chastity still wore a dress,” said Mr. Hubby. John Lithgow and Kevin Kline are regulars. “I think Kevin Kline has bought every Shakespeare book we’ve ever stocked,” he added.

Stars shop without fear of harassment by the star-struck, and the occasional out-of-work thespian has tried to bunk in the basement. But the one time the store summoned the police to deal with an oddball intruder, it rued doing so.

The bizarre browser in the dirty raincoat carrying an armload of tattered shopping bags turned out to be an overly incognito Faye Dunaway. She was just looking for a play.

Some Gay Rights Advocates Uneasy About Long Jail Time for Dharun Ravi

What may be most surprising is how many of those arguing in his defense are prominent gay rights advocates.

With Mr. Ravi set to be sentenced on Monday, many of them have argued against the jail sentence prosecutors have recommended. They say Mr. Ravi is being punished for the suicide of his roommate, Tyler Clementi, although he was not charged in it, and that pinning blame on him ignores the complicated social pressures that drive gay teenagers to kill themselves. As repugnant as his behavior was, they say, it was not the blatantly bigoted or threatening actions that typically define hate crimes. Some fear that a sentence that overreaches might provide tinder to anti-gay sentiment — a New Jersey talk radio host complained soon after the verdict of the “gay lobby” railroading Mr. Ravi.

While Mr. Clementi’s suicide in September 2010 galvanized public attention on the struggles of gay teenagers, the question of how to punish Mr. Ravi has revealed the deep discomfort that many gay people feel about using the case as a crucible.

“You’re making an example of Ravi in order to send a message to other people who might be bullying, to schools and parents and to prosecutors who have not considered this a crime before,” said Marc Poirier, a law professor at Seton Hall University who is gay and has written about hate-crimes legislation. “That’s a function of criminal law, to condemn as general deterrence. But I think this is a fairly shaky set of facts on which to do it.”

In an op-ed article in The Star-Ledger of Newark this month, Jim McGreevey, who resigned as governor after declaring himself “a gay American,” argued that Mr. Ravi’s conviction “showed how far we have traveled from the hateful, homophobic past.”

“The criminal justice system worked, this time for a gay victim,” Mr. McGreevey wrote. “But there was something disquieting about the prospect of retributive punishment being meted out on behalf of a gay young man.”

Mr. McGreevey, who now counsels prisoners, argued that jail time would neither rehabilitate nor send a message. “Perhaps the long trail of gay history inevitably leads to this call for punishment,” he wrote, “but it need not.”

The discussion itself is causing some gay rights advocates discomfort. Richard Kim, the executive editor of The Nation online, who wrote after Mr. Clementi’s suicide about his own experience growing up gay in New Jersey, said he was wary that expressing opposition to a prison sentence would make him appear to link hands with those who accuse gay men and lesbians of seeking “special treatment” with laws against bullying.

“That’s not my argument,” Mr. Kim said. Still, he added, he does not think the verdict against Mr. Ravi was justified, and he does not think he should serve jail time.

“I haven’t seen anything to convince me it has any deterrent effect,” he said.

Mr. Ravi set up a webcam to spy on Mr. Clementi three weeks into their freshman year at Rutgers University, after Mr. Clementi asked to have the room alone so he could be with a boyfriend he had recently met on a Web site for gay men.

Mr. Clementi’s suicide three days later prompted an outcry from celebrities and politicians, and pushed New Jersey to pass one of the nation’s strictest anti-bullying laws.

In court, prosecutors used an extensive electronic record to show how Mr. Ravi had sent Twitter and text messages declaring that he had seen his roommate “making out with a dude,” and encouraging others to watch. The jury convicted Mr. Ravi on all 15 counts, including invasion of privacy, hate crimes and tampering with evidence after he tried to cover up his Twitter trail.

Dan Savage, a gay columnist whose video campaign, “It Gets Better,” began in response to other suicides of gay teenagers just before Mr. Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge, argued that simply locking up Mr. Ravi was a lost opportunity to talk about the other institutions and people “complicit” in Mr. Clementi’s death.

“What was he told about being gay growing up, by his faith leaders, by the media, by the culture?” Mr. Savage said. “Ravi may have been the last person who made him feel unsafe and abused and worthless, but he couldn’t have been the first. The rush to pin all the responsibility on Ravi and then wash our hands and walk away means we’re not going to learn the lessons of these kids.”

In an essay in Slate, J. Bryan Lowder urged against a prison sentence: “Unfortunately, we can’t lock the bully up, because the bully is in all of us.”

Dane Richards’ goal gives New York Red Bulls fifth straight win

Red Bulls Hang on for 2-1 Win

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MONTREAL — Dane Richards scored in the 67th minute with New York playing a man short, and the Red Bulls beat the Montreal Impact 2-1 on Saturday night to extend their winning streak to five games.

Richards pounced on a rebound in close and put the ball under the crossbar, beating fellow Jamaican star Donovan Ricketts.

“I was just in the box, lurking around, and the ball popped out to me and I just knocked it home,” Richards said. “I know my countryman, Donovan Ricketts, he’s unhappy with me right now but I had to do it.”

Kenny Cooper scored his 10th goal to draw the Red Bulls (8-3-1) even as both teams converted penalty kicks in the first half. The striker drove a shot into the top right corner in the 37th minute.

Cooper moved past injured teammate Thierry Henry for the team lead in goals.

New York was down to 10 men in the 58th minute after Victor Palsson was shown his second yellow card of the match. Referee Ismail Elfath brought out the red card after Palsson was called for a trip from behind on Impact striker Miguel Montano. Palsson earned his first yellow card 4 minutes in for his hard tackle on Felipe.

“It’s a brilliant performance,” Red Bulls coach Hans Backe said. “It’s five in a row now with a quite inexperienced team. I mean, you can’t demand anything else. It’s almost shocking to pick up wins like that.”

Bernardo Corradi scored his team-leading fourth goal 22 minutes in for Montreal (3-6-3).

“It’s frustrating because they basically come down the field one time,” Impact coach Jesse Marsch said. “It’s a play where we have a lot of numbers back and now it comes to the feet of Richards and he puts it in.

“It’s an incredibly disappointing and frustrating game because we just let this one slip away, but in a lot of ways our ideas and our attempts were not bad.”

D.C. United 3, Toronto FC 1

WASHINGTON — Dwayne De Rosario scored two first-half goals, and D.C. United handed Toronto FC its MLS-record ninth loss to open the season.

Hamdi Salihi added a second-half goal for United (7-4-3). The Washington club is unbeaten in its last seven home matches, including victories in the last four.

Danny Koevermans scored for Toronto, a loss away from tying the league record for the longest losing streak at any point in a season. Real Salt Lake lost 10 in a row in 2005.

Rapids 2, Sporting Kansas City 2

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Tyrone Marshall and Kosuke Kimura scored in the second half to help Colorado salvage a tie with Sporting Kansas City.

Teal Bunbury scored twice for Kansas City (7-3-1) for his third career two-goal game.

Colorado is 5-6-1 overall and 1-2-1 in its last four games. Sporting, winless in Colorado since 2004, is 0-3-1 in its last four games.

Sounders 2, Whitecaps 2

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Fredy Montero scored in the 90th minute to give Seattle the tie with Vancouver.

Eddie Johnson also scored for Seattle (7-2-2). Alain Rochat and Camilo scored for Vancouver (5-3-3) in front of a sellout crowd of 21,000 at B.C. Place Stadium.

Montero took Johnson’s header on the run, lifted the ball around Vancouver captain Jay DeMerit, put it on the ground and fired home a shot from the top of the 18-yard box.

Dynamo 2, Revolution 2

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Saer Sene scored twice for New England, and Houston’s Luiz Camargo tied it with 3 minutes left in regulation.

Sene, a 25-year old Frenchman in his first MLS season, opened the scoring with a penalty kick in the 26th minute and made it 2-1 in the 57th minute with his sixth goal of the season.

New England is 4-6-1 overall and 2-1-1 in its last four.

Will Bruin also scored for Houston (3-3-4).

FC Dallas 1, Union 1

FRISCO, Texas — Gabriel Gomez scored in the 56th minute to help Philadelphia tie Dallas.

Blas Perez scored for Dallas in the seventh minute.

Philadelphia (2-6-2) stopped a three-game losing streak, and Dallas (3-6-4) extended its winless streak to seven games — the club’s longest streak since a 10-game run in 2005.

Crew 1, Earthquakes 1

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Alan Gordon scored in the 90th minute to give San Jose a tie with Columbus.

Gordon scored for the third time this season, connecting six days after he scored San Jose’s only goal in a 1-1 tie with Chivas USA. He came off the bench in the second half to score both goals.

Columbus’ Justin Meram, making his first MLS start, scored during stoppage time in the first half.

San Jose is 7-2-3, and Columbus 3-4-3.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Mets’ Batista injures back, could land him on DL

TORONTO — Miguel Batista suffered a lower-back strain delivering a full-count cutter to Eric Thames in the second inning of Saturday’s 2-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays and could be headed to the disabled list.

Terry Collins said Jeremy Hefner, who tossed five quality innings in relief of Batista, definitely would take the rotation turn in five days against the San Diego Padres at Citi Field if Batista is unable.

Chris Schwinden will join the Mets as part of the taxi squad on Sunday. He will be activated to serve as a safety net backing up starter Dillon Gee if Batista lands on the DL, or if the Mets otherwise make a bullpen maneuver.

Batista saw a Toronto doctor and said he was informed he suffered a “minor pull.” He felt the injury on every ensuing pitch. He initially took the mound for the bottom of the third, but did not face a batter that inning.

“It felt funny,” Batista said about the pitch to Thames. “And after that, I felt it every pitch.”

Batista added that this injury was unrelated to his recent groin troubles. His lower back remained “a little sore” after the game.

Hefner left Buffalo, home of the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate, at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday with Port St. Lucie, Fla.-based, minor league equipment coordinator Jack Brenner, who was visiting Bisons manager Wally Backman on Friday night and already planning to see the major league club on Saturday. Hefner arrived in Toronto two hours later with a couple of days’ worth of clothes; he left his remaining belongings in his truck back in Buffalo.

“I’m disappointed in that one inning. I got out of my mechanics a little bit and left a few balls up and they got a couple of runs,” said Hefner, who surrendered two runs in five innings. “I got a few strikeouts and just tried to keep the ball down and make them hit it into the ground. It’s a quick field, so [if] they get it in the gaps, it’s extra bases for sure.”

The Mets planned to remove a pitcher from the active roster after the weekend to restore the bench to five position players for a National League game Monday in Pittsburgh. If Batista lands on the DL and Hefner slides into the rotation, that frees the roster spot potentially without a difficult decision (with Schwinden returning to the Bisons after the cameo).

• David Wright was unavailable Saturday, Collins said. The third baseman has asked to start Sunday, but Collins said he will reserve a decision until the morning.

• Jenrry Mejia allowed one run on six hits while striking out three and walking none in three innings for Double-A Binghamton. It was his first minor league start at that level, and third overall, since Tommy John surgery on May 16, 2011. Mejia threw only 48 pitches, but GM Sandy Alderson said the right-hander was due to be capped at 50 to 60 pitches and there was nothing wrong.

• Chris Young, who had his comeback interrupted with his wife due to give birth, will next pitch for Class A St. Lucie on Friday — 10 days after his last appearance.

Mets blanked by Blue Jays

Morrow Shuts Out Mets

TORONTO — After eight innings of futility, the Mets’ best chance to beat Brandon Morrow was cut short by a close call on the bases.

Morrow pitched his second shutout in four starts, blanking the Mets on three hits and leading the Toronto Blue Jays over New York 2-0 on Saturday.

“Morrow was sharp tonight,” New York’s Mike Baxter said. “He made a lot of good pitches, he mixed well, elevated his fastball in the zone. He threw really well.”

Morrow (5-2) struck out eight and walked one to win for the fifth time in six outings. He has three career shutouts, including a victory over the Los Angeles Angels on May 3.

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“I’m feeling pretty good,” Morrow said. “As long as I’m locating my fastball, I think I’m going to have a good game.”

Morrow also benefited from a call in the ninth. Pinch-hitter Scott Hairston led off with a walk and went to third on Baxter’s one-out single. Baxter tried to stretch his hit into a double but was thrown out at second base by Jose Bautista, with shortstop Yunel Escobar applying the swipe tag. Replays confirmed that Baxter was not touched and should have been safe.

“We got into a good spot there,” said Baxter, who yelled in frustration at umpire Brian Knight before turning the argument over to manager Terry Collins.

“(Knight) said he thought (Escobar) tagged (Baxter) on the back,” Collins said. “I thought if (Knight) didn’t have a good view of it (he should) ask and he said he couldn’t, so that was it. I pretty much had no argument after that.”

Blue Jays second baseman Kelly Johnson gave credit to Bautista, who picked up his third outfield assist.

“It was huge,” Johnson said. “It was a scary situation. You’re looking at second and third with one out and the middle of their order (coming up). They still have (David) Wright on the bench. That was a huge defensive play from our best player.”

Rather than dealing with a potential Mets rally, Morrow swiftly ended the game by getting Daniel Murphy to line out to shortstop.

“That’s a tough one to lose,” Collins said.

Led by Morrow, Toronto matched its season high by winning its fourth in a row overall.

New York lost for the sixth time in nine games and saw starter Miguel Batista leave with a sore lower back after two scoreless innings.

The right-hander warmed up for the third but had to be replaced by righty Jeremy Hefner, who was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo before the game.

Batista said he tweaked a muscle in his back throwing a 3-2 cutter to Eric Thames in the second.

“I felt a pull there and it felt funny,” Batista said. “After that I felt it every pitch.”

Hefner (0-1) held the Blue Jays in check until the fifth, when ninth-place hitter Jeff Mathis singled with two outs. Kelly Johnson doubled to center and the ball got past Andres Torres for an error, allowing Mathis to score the opening run and sending Johnson to third. Escobar followed with an RBI single.

Despite taking the loss, Hefner’s outing left a good impression on his manager.

“I applaud the job Jeremy Hefner did, getting here this morning and giving us that kind of an outing is tremendous,” Collins said. “If Miguel can’t start, he’s going in that spot.”

Wright, whose .409 batting average is highest in the majors, was held out of the lineup. Collins said the third baseman is still slowed by an illness and could be kept out of Sunday’s series finale.

Morrow set down the first seven batters he faced before Ronny Cedeno singled through the right side in the third. Unfazed, Morrow retired the next 13 Mets batters in order, a streak that ended with Lucas Duda‘s two-out double to right in the seventh. Morrow promptly ended the inning by striking out Ike Davis.

Game notes

Mets INF Jordany Valdespin was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Hefner. … Mets OF Jason Bay (fractured rib) hit off a tee Saturday and remains on track to resume full batting practice Monday in Pittsburgh. … Blue Jays LHP Evan Crawford (back spasms) was not available. … Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero went 0 for 4 Friday in his first game action at extended spring training, splitting time between the outfield and DH.

#trendingnyc: Cardinal Timothy Dolan Embraces 140 Characters

But in recent weeks, the cardinal and his office prepared for an entirely different kind of address: his first Twitter message.

Options were discussed. Arrangements were made. He would send the message, but not type it himself, live on his radio show. A test was even conducted, if inadvertently. The cardinal floated the joke that would become his first posting at a gala for the Time 100, the magazine’s annual power list.

By the evening of May 8, it was settled.

“Hey everybody. It’s Timothy Cardinal Tebow,” @CardinalDolan posted. “I mean Dolan.”

In less than two weeks on Twitter, Cardinal Dolan has made a modest mark. By Friday, he had about 8,500 followers. He writes roughly twice a day, offering religious meditations, plugs for his radio shows and occasional flares of gentle humor.

The cardinal joins good company on Twitter, which has attracted rabbis, priests, imams and, last year, the pope himself, who famously sent a message from a Vatican account. Cardinal Dolan hopes the platform will help him reach new and perhaps younger audiences by extending “an implicit invitation” to learn more about church teachings, said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York.

The cardinal might also have to contend with Twitter’s widespread irreverence.

More than 480,000 people follow @jesus — “Carpenter, Healer, God,” according to his bio — but they are unlikely to encounter much Scripture. “Time to clone the bunnies,” read one message, posted four days before Easter. @Jesus_M_Christ has more than 475,000 followers, a Yahoo e-mail account and what appears to be a boundless love for profanity.

The medium presents other hazards for religious authorities. Peter Steinfels, a director of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture and a former religion columnist for The New York Times, said leaders risked sounding trite when discussing issues of faith within the confines of 140 characters.

Bill McGarvey, whose consulting firm, McG Media, has advised religious groups about social media use, said that often the greatest challenge for religious institutions was understanding the “very dialogic and dynamic medium” they were entering — a forum in which the interplay with other users can be as important as more traditional pronouncements of faith. Indeed, Cardinal Dolan’s account currently follows no one.

But his followers do not seem to mind. Dozens of users replied to or re-posted a picture taken at the cardinal’s commencement address at the Catholic University of America on May 12. In the photo, the cardinal stands with his arms raised and a cape spread behind him, like a superhero preparing for a chase scene.

The cardinal, one admirer told him, was the Catholic Batman.