May 16, 2009: HOF Lefties Disappoint
From The Met Wiki
| Date: Saturday May 17, 2009 |
| Mets starter: Johan Santana |
| Mets: 9 |
| Giants: 6 |
| Winning pitcher: Johan Santana (5,2) |
| Key player(s): Mets offense |
| Key play: Four-run fifth |
Randy Johnson, the game's winningest active pitcher (not including the disabled Tom Glavine went for win 299. Johan Santana, with a 0.78 ERA in his first seven starts went to continue his dominance. Both failed.
Santana gave up six runs, four earned, on eleven hits including a homer, in by far his worst outing of the season (to date). He gave up as many earned runs (4) as he did in his first seven starts combined. The start broke two remarkable streaks:
- 13 straight starts giving up 2 runs or fewer
- 21 straight starts giving up 3 runs or fewer
The six runs (two of which were unearned) were the most he ever game up as a Met.
And yet -- he didn't pitch poorly. He struck out seven and didn't walk a batter. He pitched with a lead (which must have really disoriented him) and decided to just throw strikes: 79 strikes in 101 pitches. The strategy would have worked better with better defense. Santana was victimized by two errors, and an additional two bloops fell in that probably should have been caught. Santana himself made some nice plays, and had his first hit of the season.
And of course, Santana got the victory, as the Mets' hitting and bullpen came through, and for a change carried the star pitcher.
The Mets knocked out the Big Unit early, charging Johnson with 7 runs on 11 hits in just four innings. The Mets got another two against the Giant bullpen. Carlos Beltran, Gary Sheffield, and David Wright each had three hits, and Alex Cora and Ramon Castro each had two. The Mets finally gave Francisco Rodriguez the day off after appearing on four straight days, so Bobby Parnell threw the eight and J.J. Putz got his first save as a Met.
