I
tweeted about this, but this deserves more than 140 characters.
Johan Santana threw 7 innings tonight and allowed 3 runs, 2 earned. Doesn't sound that special, in fact his ERA went up, and yet it was one of the best pitching performances I've seen in a long time.
The First Inning:
- After a lead-off single, David Wright can't handle a would-be double play ball (a hot shot right at him, but E5). 1st and 2nd, nobody out.
- Santana strikes out Ortiz, strikes out Youkilis, and gets Bay to ground out.
The Third Inning:
- Santana allows a 1-out double.
- Santana strikes out Ortiz (again), strikes out Youkilis (again).
The Fourth Inning:
- A walk, ground out and double lead to 2nd and 3rd and 1 out, when Ramon Martinez kicks a ground ball at short (E6), allowing 2 to score and leaving a man on 2nd with 1 out.
- Santana gets a pop up from Lugo and a fly out from Ellsbury.
The Sixth Inning:
- A single and a pop out lead to a man on 1st with 1 out, when Ramon Martinez grabs a grounder but throws it wide of 2nd base (E6), leaving 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.
- Santana gets Lugo to pop up and Ellsbury to ground out.
Often, pitchers getting out of jams are described as "escaping". Tonight, Santana didn't escape. First, the "escape" tag almost suggests getting lucky, like you would wipe your brow and exhale. Not so for Santana. His work was full of determination and intent. The Red Sox didn't give him the outs, he extracted them from them. What's more, he wasn't "escaping" in that he wasn't saving himself. Most of the night, Santana was rescuing his teammates who made errors behind him. Less Harry Houdini, more Jack Bauer.
And boy was he pumped. You could read the determination on his face and in his walk. His scowl and his swagger were reminiscent of Michael Jordan's, back when he would refuse to lose, throw his team on his back and carry them. In the fifth inning, Santana hit Youkilis with a pitch with 2 out. The pitch was almost a strike, but Youkilis took his time walking to 1st, looking and talking at Santana. Santana wasn't having it. He snapped at Youkilis to get his butt to 1st base, and when he did, Santana proceeded to strike out Bay on three pitches. Santana pitched with emotion all night and channeled all of it productively.
Anyone who's watched the Mets this year (or last year for that matter) knows that Santana will not lead the league in wins, even if he leads it in ERA, but I hope Cy Young voters give him a chance, even though his team doesn't always.
p.s. In the 7th, Santana struck out Ortiz and Youkilis back to back, for the third time.
