Mmmmmm... donuts

It is remarkable that in his six starts prior to Wednesday night's game against the Giants, Johan Santana had an ERA of less than 2.50 and yet the Mets were still 0-6 in those games. But it happens sometimes, when a team just can't put up runs for its best pitcher; we saw it with the Mets a few years back with Al Leiter.

And who knows why it happens. Maybe the hitters are too relaxed thinking they don't need to put up a big number so they end up putting up nothing, or maybe they're pressing to try and get their main guy another win.

So it was nice to see Santana finally get a win, and it was another shutout, the Mets' second straight against a Giants team that's less offensive than Wayne Brady. Santana went five innings and allowed three hits and three walks, and came out after a 45-minute rain delay. Aaron Heilman threw two hitless frames, and Sanchez and Smith closed it out.

For the second straight day, a three-run homer gave the Mets the lead, this one by Ramon Castro to cap a two-out rally started with a double by Carlos Delgado. Tatis battled Jonathan Sanchez and drew a walk, and then Castro went yard. The Mets again tacked on runs late - a nice trend - adding two in the eighth on consecutive singles by Reyes and Reyes.

Delgado had three hits and has raised his average to .249. He has 16 homers and 50 RBI, which means he's on pace to hit 29 and 89, and considering his second-half batting average over the previous three seasons is .290, he'll end up hitting around .265. Yes, his defense isn't great (to quote Dennis Miller, he has as much range as Larry Storch on F-Troop) but for an aging slugger in the final year of his contract, that ain't bad.

We'll see if the shutout streak can continue this afternoon as John Maine takes the hill against Barry "Thank God the Mets didn't shell out the big bucks for this clown" Zito.