NY Ace Johan Santana won his 6th game Friday night despite 3 errors behind him, leading The Mets to a 5-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Massachusetts. This weekend kicks off the 1st wave of itnerleague play as AL and NL teams match-up. 3b David Wright,OF Angel Pagan, C Omir Santos and SS Ramon Martinez all had rbi singles, while LF Gary Sheffield homered for NY. Red Sox captain and C Jason Varitek had two hits and homer while reigning AL MVP 2b Dustin Pedroia added 2 hits.
Santana, pitching vs a red hot and dominant home team in the Red Sox, was outstanding over 7 innings. He allowed 7 hits and 3 runs while King 8 and walking 1. On 3 different occasions, Mets infielders made errors with less than 2 outs and Johan retired all the Sox batters who followed.
Things got testy in the 5th when Santana hit Sox star 1b Kevin Youkilis in the elbow. Youk jawed at the Mets ace who gave it back and we almost had a bench clear.“Two outs, two strikes, there’s no way I’m going to try and hit somebody,” Santana said. “I hit him and he started looking at me. If you look at me, I’m going to give it back.”
Bobby Parnell( 8 holds, 1.86 era) continued his strong 2009 season with a scoreless 8th that saw him strike out Sox All Star RF J.D Drew. Mets stud closer Francisco Rodriquez showed why he was a great off-season investment with another great performance, pitching a 1-2-3 9th for his 12th save in 12 chances, giving the Mets a much needed 5-3 win and ending their 4 game losing streak.
Star of the Game: Santana- The star of every game he pitches, I think you can book him for the All Star break in St. Louis!!!
Help!!!: The Mets continue to make life difficult for their ace, as they continue to kick the ball around with Santana on the mound. Of the teams 35 errors, 12 have occured with Johan on the mound. Amazingly, he has allowed only 10 earned runs all year.(7 unearned in his contests) His Manager feels his pain, “It’s just another impressive performance for him,” Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. “I do hope at some point we play a real, real crisp game behind him.”
Game Notes: Beltran served as a DH as he is battling a sore right knee, Jeremy Reed played Center….Wright extended his hitting streak to 13 games and has reached base an amazing 26 of 36 plate appearances during the 1st 8 games of this 10 game road swing…Set up man J.J. Putz is sidelined with a stiff neck… RF Ryan Church came up lame with a sore left hamstring in the 4th and was replaced by Pagan…. Rookie Daniel Murphy played First and lead off…SS Jose Reyes remains out with tendinitis behind his right calf
Next Game:
Saturday, Game 2 of 3 game interleague series vs the Red Sox in Boston vs Red Sox
7:10
Mets RH Mike Pelfrey(4-1,4.61) vs Red Sox RH Josh Beckett(4-2,5.85)
