Santos Slam Helps Maine Cruise to 7-1 Win Against Fish

Whew! Met fans can now breathe a collective sigh of relief that John Maine looked like the John Maine of old. Against the slumping Marlins, Maine went six strong innings of 1 hit ball, walking 3 and striking out 4 in a much-needed win, not only for the team, but for his psyche as well. In a previous post, we were very concerned about Maine's injured arm, but he didn't allow a hit after the first inning, and picked up his first win since Aug. 13, 2008.

Omir Santos provided the muscle with a first inning grand slam as the Mets put up a 6-spot in the first which was more than enough for the lifeless Marlins, who've now lost seven in a row after an 11-1 start. Santos became the third player in Mets history whose first home run was a grand salami. The last? Jose Reyes, who had his 12-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-4 day. (was that the quietest hitting streak ever? I thought Reyes was struggling!)

The Mets bullpen again was fantastic - how great is it to be being able to say that on a consistent basis!? David Wright (a new crewcut hairstyle and 2 hits) and Daniel Murphy each hit triples, and other than Sheffield's error, the Mets played pretty good defense. Perhaps things are looking up.

Santos (a former Yankee property) is getting playing time because Brian Schneider is on the disabled list with a strained back muscle. So what's going to happen when Schneider is activated, and the Mets will have to make a decision on whether Santos or Ramon Castro will be the backup? That's a good problem to have!

Can Livan Hernandez bounce back from his previous horrible outing to take on budding star Ricky Nolasco in tonight's game? Now THAT may be a problem...