Mets Avoid the Brooms in San Diego

The stopper. The 137.5 million dollar man. The ace. The medicine the Mets needed to avoid a sweep and snap an eight game slide at PETCO Park. Johan Santana pitched eight dominating innings of one run ball in a 5-1 Mets victory, improving to 13-8 on the year and now tied for the MLB lead in wins with Adam Wainwright and Josh Beckett. Santana was on cruise control in the Southern California sun, getting a lot of ground ball outs and throwing a lot of strikes.

It was great to see that the Mets could rely on someone to come out and throw a gem to end a losing streak. With all the inconsistencies in the rotation this year and the recent injury to Jonathon Niese, New York needed their ace to come through and carry them on his back. I know San Diego is in last place in the NL West, but the Mets have been dreadful at PETCO Park and being swept in a four game series there for the second straight year would have been a major blow.

Oh, and by the way, the same guy who dominated on the mound also made his presence known at the plate. Johan was 2-3 with two singles, a walk, and a RBI. He started the Mets three run 6th inning with a shot into the left-center field gap which Tony Gwynn Jr. appeared to catch, but he dropped the ball while diving to make the play. While Johan has struggled at the dish this year, he had a two run double on Tuesday against St. Louis, and he contributed with two more hits today. He used to be a short stop when he was coming up in the Astros organization, and he takes a lot of hard cuts at the plate.

Anderson Hernandez drove in the Mets first run in the second on an RBI single and finished with two hits on the afternoon. They also greatly benefitted from an Oscar Salazar error in the 6th which led to two more Mets runs. Daniel Murphy drove in the last of the five runs with a RBI single in the 9th to make it a non save situation for K-Rod. Murphy has really stepped up at the plate by hitting for more doubles, and he seems to be showing much better plate discipline. He also made an incredible over the shoulder catch way down the right field line to end the game. His defense at first base has been a huge plus for the Mets defense, and he has a great feel around the bag.

Let's face it, this win probably doesn't mean much. At 52-59 and ten games back of the division, the year is over as far as the playoffs are concerned. However, even with all the injuries and turmoil this team has gone through, it would be nice see someone like Santana get to 20 wins.

Tidbits

• The Mets improved to 6-15 at PETCO Park and went 2-6 vs San Diego this year
• Jeff Francoeur is 7 for his last 18
• Santana has pitched 8 innings in his last two starts, and has pitched into the 7th inning in 9 of his last 10 starts
• Luis Castillo returned to the lineup today and went 2/5
• K-Rod pitched a scoreless 9th, and his velocity was in the low 90's compared to the high 80's in his blown save on Friday night
• The game was delayed in the 5th inning after home plate umpire Randy Marsh was struck in the face with a foul ball. The impact of the ball was so great that his mask fell right off. He left the game and was replaced by second base umpire Marvin Hudson.
• The Mets continue their seven game road trip in Arizona tomorrow. Mike Pelfrey (8-7) will go for the Mets after missing the start on Saturday because of the birth of his son Chase on Thursday. Doug Davis (6-10) will toe the rubber for the D-Backs. The Mets lost 3 of 4 from Arizona last weekend at Citi Field.

(AP Photo/Denis Poroy)