Johan Santana was not at his best last night, although it may have been due to a strike zone that seemed to shrink with every pitch. The thing is, as the Nationals found out last night, Johan not at his best is still better than most people. I’m not sure how many major league pitchers would have come out and thrown 2 effective innings after a 4th inning like Santana threw. I’m not sure how many pitchers would have been given the chance to. It was a gutsy performance, and Johan was rewarded for his guts when Daniel Murphy hit the go ahead 2-run home run in the bottom half of the 6th that put Santana in line for his National League leading 7th win of the season. Santana’s walk total would normally be the biggest news of the night, but not last night. Last night belonged to Daniel Murphy.
Murphy put a career night at the plate, going 3-4 with 5 RBI and the forementioned go ahead home run. The homer to right, initially ruled a double, was reviewed and overturned much to the joy of the Citi Faithful. Sitting on the first base side, it didn’t look like it hit the sign to me, but watching the replay on one of the many wonderful TVs placed around the 300 level, it seemed clear that the trajectory of the ball changed. His last 2 RBI came in the bottom of the 7th when he smacked a ball the other way into the gap, a hit that put the game out of reach. Murphy had been struggling, but played the type of game that busts slumps. Hopefully he’ll get to play a few nights in a row after this performance, and Jerry Manuel won’t shuffle the line up around too much keeping him on the bench til the end of the weekend.
Couple last night’s win with Philadelphia’s loss, and the Mets find themselves in first place again. They’ve won 3 in a row and 5 out of their last 6. They have a day off today where they will get to rest their bones before taking on Florida for the weekend series. Florida comes to town losers of 6 of their last 10 and 5 games behind the Mets. The Marlins are the type of team that gives the Mets trouble no matter how bad they’re playing, so this series will not be a cakewalk by any means. Mike Pelfrey and John Maine will open the series, but as far as who will pitch Sunday, your guess is as good as mine. Tim Redding is in line, but struggled in his last performance, so he may not get another shot. Oliver Perez is scheduled to make another rehab start that day, maybe he gets called up? Only time will tell.
With all that said, it’s time for some disgruntled-ness
Fernando Martinez… If I were Jerry Manuel, not only would Martinez not have stepped back on to the field after not running out a pop up last night, he would get benched through the weekend. I know he’s a kid, and you have to baby him, but come on! If you don’t know how to play the game, you should sit for a few days and watch how it’s done. If you can’t catch on after that, maybe you need to go back down to the minors. Now, my seats were not good enough to see into the dugout, but I found myself wondering if any of the Mets veterans went over and gave Martinez a little talking to (ahem David Wright). I’m sure it’s not the type of behavior that we will see out of Martinez regularly, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t go unpunished. If not by the coach, then by the older guys on your team.
Now that the disgruntled-ness is over, let’s be happy. First place!
