Santana's Tough Lose

Last night was a difficult lose in a number of regards. First, anytime the Mets lose a game when Johan Santana is on the mound, it is tough. Obviously a pitcher is not going to go the entire season without a lose but this is historically his time of year and when he is on and the Mets lose, it is tough. While he could have done some things differently, giving up one earned run in six innings, in my book, is being on.

Losing two games in a row to the lowly Padres is tough. The Mets took two out of three from San Francisco and they needed to keep it going in San Diego. They haven’t. The fact that the Mets’ hitting is anemic, that they have scored two runs in the past 18 innings against the Pads is a problem.

I find it troubling that after the Mets clawed out a run to give Santana a 1-0 lead, the next half inning Santana allowed two runs to score. A quality pitcher like Santana has got to shut it down after being given a lead, at least for the next half inning. It is true that only one run was earned and that it was after Santana had to run the bases, going station to station. It is also true it occurred after Santana was hit in the pitching shoulder, so I am not sure how it all plays out. Still, Santana did not do what he needed to do.

Certainly being hit in the pitching shoulder is a concern and I am also concerned but Santana came out after six innings. He had only given up one earned run and I do not think it was time to take him out. I do not know if this was Randolph being catious, Randolph feeling Santana had enough or his pitch count was too high, or Randolph taking him out because his shoulder was hurting. Regardless, I am concerned.

So, the Mets need to move forward. In order for the trip to be successful, they need to be above 500 against the Giants and Padres. I would have liked five or six games but they need to win at least four of seven. Hopefully, that will happen but I am a little concerned with Oliver Perez on the mound tonight. Hopefully he bounces back from back to back difficult starts.

Let’s Go Mets!