C Omir Santos hit the 1st grand slam in the history of Citifield while starting pitcher John Maine provided a lift with 6 strong innings to help the New York Mets defeat the 1st place Florida Marlins, 7-1 Monday night in Queens.Maine and 3 relievers allowed only 2 hits while OF Daniel Murphy and 3b David Wright(2 hits, rbi) had triples for NY.
Santos, who was a Yankees farm hand for over 5 years and first played in the majors last year for the Baltimore Orioles, broke open a 2-1 game with a lined shot to left. He signed with the Mets this offseason, why? “It’s a winning team, a great city,” he said. “You feel like home, because every corner that you stand, everybody speaks Spanish.” The popular backstop was treated to a shaving cream pie in the face by reliever J.J. Putz during his post game interview.
Maine was a huge part of this victory, winning his 1st game in 4 2009 starts. He was strong over 6, allowing only a single to 1b Jorge Cantu while striking out 4 and walking 3. He lowered his season era to 5.40(7.47 pregame) The promising righty thinks he might have turned the corner, “I think my first few starts I was really rushing myself,” said Maine, who threw live batting practice between starts. “For some reason, I just get a little too excited out there.”
Wright and RF Gary Sheffield added rbi hits for the winners, while the Marlins received a major scare when superstar SS Hanley Ramirez was hit by a pitch in the wrist to open the game. X Rays came back negative. The newly constructed Mets pen trio of Sean Green, Putz and Francisco Rodriquez closed out the contest with an inning apiece,with K Rod striking out the final batter to post a nice team win for the Mets.
Star of the Game: Santos- While make the skippers catching decision tough when regular starter Brian Schneider returns from the DL. “We want to take a good look at him,” manager Jerry Manuel said. “It will make for a tough decision.”
Perez Update: Manuel has decided that LH SP Oliver Perez next start(Saturday at Philadelphia) will determine his role. “I think it’s important, him being one of my guys, that I give him every benefit of the doubt,” Manuel said. “I’m looking at that Philadelphia outing as a big outing for him.” Perez is 1-2 with a 9.31 era this season with 18 Ks and 15 walks, The good news? He has a great track record vs the Phillies, posting a 0.35 era while allowing 1 run in 26 innings.
Game Notes: 1b Carlos Delgado was a late scratch with a hip injury and will know more after an MRI Tuesday. The classy veteran experienced discomfort running out a triple Sunday…More Outfield defense misadventures in Citifield, this time Sheffield dropped an easy out in the 1st. He later received 2 standing ovations for routine catches in the 7th. Manuel thinks the corners might be haunted, “There’s something going on out there. I got to find out. It’s only out there when we’re out there,” he said. “It’s not out there when they’re out there.”… The struggling Wright(1 for 12,6 Ks and no rbi over the weekend) was sporting a crew cut and seemed refreshed. “It’s low maintenance. It’s hot outside,” he said. “Hopefully, it has some wins in it.”… 2b Luis Castillo left the game in the 5th with muscle spasms in his back
Next Game:
Game 2 of 3 game set vs the Marlins,7:10 Citifield
Mets Livian Hernandez(1-1,7.31) vs Marlins Ricky Nolasco(1-2, 6.86)
