Santana homers, pitches shut-out to beat Reds
There’s nothing more frustrating for a major league pitcher to pitch a terrific game and then not get the win because your team can’t get any run support.
So just to be sure that wasn’t going to happen to him, New York Mets’ pitcher Johan Santana not only threw a gem, allowing no runs over nine innings, but he also hit one out of the park to give himself a 1-0 lead to pitch with.
It was all his team would need, too, as they defeated the Cincinnati Reds 3-0 on Tuesday at Citi Field in front of a delighted crowd in New York. Santana was magnificent, giving up just three hits and three walks, and kept them honest on the base paths as they weren’t able to get many runners in scoring position. Santana needed just 113 pitches to retire the entire order.
The Reds’ pitching wasn’t quite as good. Six-foux Matt Maloney lasted less than six innings and threw 108 pitches before he was pulled after the Mets’ third run. Logan Ondrusek came in as relief and got four outs without letting in a single run or letting in a hit or walk. He was in turn subbed out for Bill Bray, who pitched a score-less eighth innings. That was all the pitching they’d get to do though, as the Mets didn’t need their ninth chance at the plates to take the win.
Santana’s monster performance
Santana could hardly believe it when he’d realized he’d hit one out. Unlike more experienced home run hitters, who’ll often watch their ball soar over the fence, Santana tore towards first the second he’d made contact.
“I hit it and started running,” he said. “I didn’t believe it was out.” Santana is hitting just .152 on the season, and had never had a home run in 182 prior career major league at bats. The crowd gave Santana a standing ovation and even demanded a curtain call from him, which he duly gave.
The only time it looked like he might be pulled was in the ninth innings when two runners got on base after Scott Rolen singled and Jason Bay reached first on an error. To loud boos from the crowd, Mets manager Jerry Manuel came out to speak to his pitcher. But his pitcher had another message for him.
“I’ll finish it. Simple.” He did, to another ovation from the crowd, which was baking in the record setting heat.
The only one who seemed to want to rain on Santana’s parade was Reds star Joey Votta, who said that Santana didn’t look like anything special.
“You guys are trying to get me to say that he was something special tonight,” Votto said. “But frankly, what I saw was the same guy we always see. He just missed a few more barrels.”
That’s not quite true though- Santana has blown hot and cold all year. His last game, a loss, featured him letting in just a run over seven innings, but before that he’d let in at least four runs for four games straight. Still, he’s thrown quite a few excellent ball games throughout the year, but hasn’t been rewarded by his team mates- which is perhaps why he dug deep to hit that home run.
Mets still hunting Braves
Even with the win the Mets failed to gain ground on NL East leaders the Atlanta Braves, who also won on Tuesday. However they did manage to put another game between themselves and the Philadelphia Phillies, who now trail them by three.
The loss wasn’t enough to dislodge the Reds from the top of their NL Central division, where they lead the Cardinals by two games.
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