Author: Will Hernandez
The New York Mets (57-48)
beat the St. Louis Cardinals (58-49) 9-1 Sunday behind
a complete game by Johan Santana at Shea Stadium.
If Santana’s performance against the Phillies last Tuesday was his most important start of the season, then Sunday was his most impressive start. Santana was an Albert Pujols homer away from a complete-game shutout. The lefthander cruised through the first six innings before allowing the Pujols homer in the seventh. Just one batter earlier, Carlos Beltran robbed Ryan Ludwick of his own solo homer. Beltran perfectly timed his leap at the wall and brought the ball back into the stadium.
But let’s get back to Santana, who was efficient as he no-hit the Cards through the first four innings. He allowed the one run on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Santana (9-7) lowered his ERA to 2.93.
I think this is the Santana everyone was expecting when the Mets traded for and then signed him to a long-term deal in the offseason. Santana should have 12 to 13 wins right now, but a lack of run support has doomed him. And don’t forget, historically, Santana is a much better second half pitcher and he’s performed well in his last two starts.
The Mets bats finally came to life with Santana on the mound and scored the nine runs on 17 hits. They blew the game open in the sixth inning and scored five runs, including two-run homers by Fernando Tatis and Ramon Castro. The Mets started the inning with six straight hits, including an RBI single by Santana, his first RBI in a Mets uniform. Tatis finished the game 3-for-4 with three extra-base hits. David Wright was also 3-for-4, including a solo homer in the fifth inning. Jose Reyes had a pair of doubles as every Mets starter had a hit.
Today was one of those wins where we saw just exactly what the Mets are capable of doing when everything is just right. Santana pitched well and the Mets beat a pitcher who handled them well in St. Louis and has pitched great the whole season. It was an all-around performance as this team continues to improve in July.
But now comes the interesting part of the season. The Mets don’t get a break this week with a three-game series against the Florida Marlins, who played well against the Chicago Cubs this past weekend. Also, the trade deadline looms and the Mets’ options for improving the team are dwindling. Raul Ibanez and Randy Winn seem like the most likely candidates in a trade. The asking prices for Jason Bay and Matt Holliday are too steep. Also, if the Mets were really planning to use Fernando Martinez as an in-house option, they would have already had him up at Shea to see what he could do. But that option became unavailable recently with Martinez nursing a tender hamstring.
Thursday may turn out to make or break the Mets season. As good as Tatis has played this season, the Mets can’t count on that to continue. And who knows what’s going on with Ryan Church, who was having a career year prior to the concussion. The Mets could also use another arm in the bullpen and a lot of names have been brought up on that front. Thursday can’t come fast enough.
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