Mets Math: Johan + 1 Run = Victory

For the second time this year, Johan Santana's come out on the plus side of a 1-0 ballgame. Santana was brilliant again, fanning 10 and going seven strong innings for this 4th victory against 1 loss on the year. The Mets have scored a total of 10 runs ALL YEAR when Santana's been in the game, making his 4-1 record even more impressive.

I guess you can say the Mets made the most of their 2 hits in the game, although they were helped out by some shoddy Philadelphia defense when they scored their only run in the seventh inning. After Scott Eyre replaced Chan Ho Park (who pitched pretty well himself) for the Phillies, he immediately walked Carlos Delgado. Two outs and another pitcher later, Fernando Tatis hit a dribbler down the third base line which Pedro Felis fielded and tried to pull a "Wright Move". Instead, he threw the ball wide of first and allowed Delgado to keep moving.

And keep moving he did, running through the "Hold" sign from third base coach Razor Shines, and barely sliding home in time to beat the throw from Jason Werth, who mysteriously held the ball for the split second Delgado needed to make it home safely. Razor needs to be a bit more agressive sending runners. Had Delgado stopped at third, we get the feeling this game would still be going on with no scoring at all.

A classic pitchers duel with the Mets bullpen coming up big again. Pedro Feliciano pitched a solid eigth and KRod shut it down for save number 8. Yesterday's post reminded us of the positives we see in this team. 2 hits and a victory? That's a positive. And as a result of this game, the Mets have their first 3-game winning streak of the year and snapped the Phillies 5-game road win streak.

Oh, and after the game, the Mets put struggling starter Oliver Perez (1-2, 9.97 ERA) on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis in his right knee. And finally, on a non-Met note: can anyone really be surprised about Manny Ramirez?