Johan Santana threw strikes, teased the Giants lineup, and put up zero after zero on the scoreboard. This is something we've gotten used to with our Ace.
A few numbers on Santana:
Since June 1st he has given up 12 Earned Runs in 8 starts.
He is 4th in the NL in Innings
He is 4th in the NL in ERA
He is 6th in the NL in Strikeouts
He is 7th in the NL in WHIP
He is tied for 15th in Wins
How many more wins could this guy have? I am going to say that he could conservatively have 12 wins right now. He is absolutely our ace and is having a fantastic opening season at Shea, marred only by lack of run support. For example, Carlos Zambrano is 10-3 and has the same ERA as Santana, and his WHIP and BAA are slightly worse.
How cool was it to see the umps actually let Santana finish the 5th yesterday in the rain? He also happens to be the ultimate team player, and very much a leader.
"In the past I was doing my job, I was working and trying to help as much as I can," Santana said. "Tonight it was about the whole team."
He also added, "The consistency that I've had for my whole career is being shown right now, physically, I'm good, I'm there. I feel strong."
"We've all been waiting for this," interim manager Jerry Manuel said. "It was good to see him get a 'W' tonight, and I think he'll run off a big streak for us."
Santana entered last night's play tied for fifth in the National League with a 2.96 ERA and saw that number drop to 2.84.
"Sometimes when Johan pitches we don't hit," Castro said. "Today we hit."
Yes they did! The Mets offense stayed hot...Ramon Castro had the big hit, a 3-run HR, to cap off a two-out rally started by Carlos Delgado.Delgado, who went 3 for 4 on the day with two doubles and two runs scored, is really making his presence felt. After his double Fernando Tatis worked a great walk to keep things going, and then Castro went deep with his signature low ball swing. As soon as he hit it I knew it was gone.
The Mets tacked on two more runs, with an RBI hit from each of our Reyes' guys. It was funny on the broadcast last night--apparently Argenis Reyes has become something of a shadow to Jose Reyes, following him around and copying his pre-game and clubhouse habits. You could see them having a good time in the Mets ultra-loose dugout during the game, chatting it up and having a blast after Argenis recorded his first big league RBI.
The bullpen was once again masterful--4 innings on no-hit, no-run, no-walk baseball: Heilman, Goggles and Joe Smith combined with Santana on the shutout, the Mets second in a row.
"That was very big for us," interim manager Jerry Manuel said. "It was very big for us . . . to get two innings like that out of Aaron Heilman was huge for us, and the other guys pitched very well. Joe Smith lately has been very, very good."
The bullpen did not want to let Santana down.
"He has thrown really well, and he's been the bearer of a lot of bad luck," Heilman said. "Unfortunately it seems like some days we score a lot of runs and the next day it's tough. It just happens that it came on his day. You're always kind of aware of that. It's nice for him to get a win and reap the rewards of pitching like he has."
So today it's John Maine on the hill as the Mets go for 6 in a row.
Who's feeling optimistic?
Enjoy your coffee!
| Scoreboard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Francisco (39-52) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| N.Y. Mets (47-44) « | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | x | 5 | 9 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Players of the Game |
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| New York Mets | ||||||||
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Jose Reyes, SS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .301 |
| Endy Chavez, RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .269 |
| David Wright, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | .285 |
| Carlos Beltran, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .266 |
| Damion Easley, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .287 |
| Duaner Sanchez, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Joe Smith, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Carlos Delgado, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .249 |
| Fernando Tatis, LF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .288 |
| Ramon Castro, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .274 |
| Johan Santana, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .132 |
| Aaron Heilman, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| a- Argenis Reyes, PH-2B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .375 |
| Totals | 31 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 8 | ||
| a-singled for Heilman in the 7th | ||||||||
| Batting | ||||||||
| 2B - Carlos Delgado 2 (18, Sanchez, Yabu) | ||||||||
| HR - Ramon Castro (3, Sanchez) | ||||||||
| SH - Endy Chavez (7), Johan Santana (2) | ||||||||
| RBI - Jose Reyes (39), Ramon Castro 3 (14), Argenis Reyes (1) | ||||||||
| 2-OUT RBI - Jose Reyes (20), Ramon Castro 3 (10), Argenis Reyes (1) | ||||||||
| SB - David Wright (10, 2nd base off Sanchez/Molina) | ||||||||
| Team LOB - 10 | ||||||||
| New York Mets | ||||||||
| Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Johan Santana (W,8-7) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2.84 |
| Aaron Heilman (H,10) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.69 |
| Duaner Sanchez (H,15) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.72 |
| Joe Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.05 |
| Pitches-Strikes - Johan Santana 78-51, Aaron Heilman 23-17, Duaner Sanchez 12-9, Joe Smith 8-6 | ||||||||
| Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Johan Santana 4-6, Aaron Heilman 1-3, Duaner Sanchez 1-2, Joe Smith 2-0 | ||||||||
| Batters Faced - Johan Santana 21, Aaron Heilman 6, Duaner Sanchez 3, Joe Smith 3 | ||||||||
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