Mets 6, Phillies 3: This game takes some air out of the whole "that loss will stay with them for a while" theory. Games don't get that much worse than Tuesday's 8-7, 13-inning loss. But were the Mets really thinking about that when they took the field Wednesday? Maybe. Did it affect them? Not in a bad way. They trailed, 3-2, entering the eighth, but Carlos Delgado hit his second homer of the game......

Mets 3, Astros 0: They didn't score often, but the 3 runs the Mets scored early was enough to help Johan Santana to his third straight win. Santana pitched seven scoreless innings, but needed a career-high 121 pitches to do so. The Mets got the scoring started in the 1st when David Wright drove in Jose Reyes in on a single. In the 2nd inning, Brian Schneider hit a two-run home run, his fifth of......

Mets 4, Pirates 0: Times have changed. Now when a Mets game involves of the worst teams in baseball, those watching know which squad it is. Johan Santana threw a three-hit shutout for the Mets' sixth straight win. Carlos Beltran (hot again) and Brian Schneider (he'll take what he can get) each went deep. All six of the wins have come against the lowly Nationals and Pirates, but that doesn't make a difference in......

Yankees 3, Rangers 0: Mike Mussina and the Yankees can't afford to keep splitting four-game series. But when the team enters the finale having lost two of the first three, what choice do they have? Derek Jeter hit a home run as the game's second batter. Mussina followed that up with seven scoreless innings, striking out six and walking one. That's an impressive outing against the best offense in baseball. Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte and......

Mets 9 St. Louis 1: You can call it overkill, but after last week’s loss to the Phillies, you can’t blame Jerry Manuel for making Santana go the distance. Santana dominated the Cardinals, allowing only seven baserunners while striking out five. He also collected two hits on offense, part of a 17-hit attack by the Mets. David Wright, Fernando Tatis and Ramon Castro all homered as New York collected a series win and maintained their......

Phillies 8, Mets 6: Johan Santana threw eight innings of two-run ball and then turned the game over to the bullpen with a 5-2 lead. No problem, right? Not quite. Duaner Sanchez, Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano gave up six runs -- the first five of which came before anyone got an out -- and the Mets choked away the opener of a three-game set that will decide first place, at least for the time......

The Yankees won their second game against the Tamba Bay Devil Rays in 21 hours and the Mets won their fifth in a row....

Red Sox 6, Yankees 4: If Johnny Damon had caught the ball, things might have turned out differently. With the Yankees leading, 3-1, and two Red Sox on base, Kevin Youkilis lifted a high drive to left field, and Damon appeared to have it in his glove. Then gravity kicked in, Damon returned to Earth, and, after literally hanging on top of the wall, the ball fell to the warning track. That proved to be the turning point. ...

Photograph of Carlos Delgado leaping for an errant throw from David Wright and trying to tag Alex Rodriguez out (but A-Rod was ruled safe) by Julie Jacobson/AP Yankees 3, Mets 2: Andy Pettitte pitched through a rain delay, and Johan Santana couldn't pitch through another meager output from the Mets bats. Pettitte came out after a 53-minute rain delay and gave up a solo homer to David Wright. But that only made the game......

Photograph of Carlos Beltran sliding into home--and Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez--by Seth Wenig/AP It seemed like such an innocent play at the time. Willie Blumquist grounded to third for what should have been an easy out, but David Wright bobbled the ball and the bases were loaded. But, the pitcher was due up and pitchers can’t hit, especially American League ones, right? Wrong, Felix Hernandez became the first AL pitcher in 37 years to......

Yankees 8, Padres 0: One day after getting devastating news about Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees pounded the Padres to continue their domination of the Pacific Coast National League. Andy Pettitte, who put forth a second straight dominant outing got plenty of help, including two homers from Jason Giambi and a bomb to center field from Alex Rodriguez. A few words on Giambi, who was written off for dead: He has unbelievable numbers since May 1.......

Photographs of the Diamondbacks' Chris Young (left) hitting a ninth inning RBI double off Mets reliever Billy Wagner (right) by Kathy Willens/AP Diamondbacks 5, Mets 4: This one's on Billy Wagner, whose summation above says it all. Johan Santana pitched seven scoreless innings. Ramon Castro went deep and scored another run. David Wright had an RBI double. Joe Smith gave up two runs in the eighth, but Wagner entered the ninth with his team......

Kansas City 2 Yankees 1: The Yankees had their chances, in fact they had a lot of chances, but their own failures and a terrible umpiring call kept them from capitalizing and they fell to the lowly Royals Friday night. Darrell Rasner was very effective, pitching eight innings while allowing only two runs. But, the offense couldn’t help him. They got ten hits, but they couldn’t string them together to create scoring chances. Unfortunately, the......

Mets 6, Dodgers 1: If this homestand was a referendum on Willie Randolph's performance, the Mets helped his job security. Johan Santana worked into the eighth after enjoying a 10-batter, five-run third. Ryan Church, who will revert to the Ryan Church of old at some point, had a homer in that inning, as did Carlos Beltran. It was Church's first game since May 26 and his first start since May 20 in Atlanta. The......

Mets 7, Marlins 6 (12 innings): One Johan Santana start plus not one but two last-chance comebacks equal a two-game winning streak and some signs of life from the Mets. Fernando Tatis, one of three reserves to knock in runs in Tuesday's win, hit a game-winning two-run double in the 12th. The game only went to extra innings because Endy Chavez hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth. Don't count on......

Baltimore 10 Yankees 9 (11th inning): If you were looking for a situation where the Yankees lost a game they could have won with Joba in the bullpen, this was it. Then again, the Yankees have no excuse for losing this game. Up 4-0 and 8-4, New York couldn’t hold a lead and Baltimore tied things up at 8-8. The Yankees took the lead in the 11th thanks to a clutch hit from Hideki Matsui,......

Mets 7, Nationals 2: Any time a pitcher has more extra-base hits than he allows, things must be going well. Johan Santana cracked two doubles and allowed only one -- ironically it was hit by Nationals starter Tim Redding -- as he and the Mets snapped the team's three-game losing streak. The Nationals have proved a nice cure for the Mets this season; New York is 4-0 against the ex-Expos. Ryan Church, moved up to......

Photograph of Johan Santana giving the ball to manager Willie Randolph by Ed Betz/AP Brewers 5, Mets 3: Mets fans that had waited two months -- or even longer -- to see Johan Santana make his Mets Shea Stadium debut left disappointed. Santana gave up five runs (four earned) and took his second loss of the year in three starts. Three home runs proved to be his undoing Saturday. He didn't get much help......

Photograph of the Devils' Zach Parise putting the puck past Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist by Bill Kostroun/AP Devils 3, Rangers 2 (SO): Needing a win in regulation to secure home ice in the playoffs, the Rangers pulled out all the stops. Not even adding an extra skater by pulling Henrik Lundqvist could do the trick, however, and the Devils finally beat the Rangers. New Jersey had lost the first seven games between the clubs......

Photo of Johan Santana pitching against the Marlins by AP/J. Pat Carter The rain that postponed the Yankees' regular-season opener was nowhere to be found in South Florida, where the Mets disposed of the Marlins, 7-2, to start their eagerly awaited 2008 campaign. Johan Santana, living up to the trade and subsequent contract extension that made him a Met, struck out eight in seven innings of two-run ball. David Wright's three-run double capped a......

Photo of Carlos Beltran rounding third after a two-run home run against the White Sox in the Civil Rights Game by AP/Bill Waugh Few players can catapult a team from worriers to prohibitive favorites, but Johan Santana can put his name on that list. Before the Mets got him, they and their fans were looking over their shoulders to the Phillies and Braves. Now the team is almost overloaded with optimism. That hope --......

Johan Santana got traded to the Mets about two weeks before the start of spring training, but his face popped up more in the Mets offseason than anyone else's. This was a great way for the Mets to take the attention off the dreadful collapse they suffered at the close of the 2007 season. Before the Mets reported to camp, they had something positive to talk about rather than the evaporation of a seven-game lead......

For all the noise of this Yankees offseason, as far as the team on the field goes, all it amounted to was the status quo. Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera are all back -- and richer. Young pitchers Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and center fielder Melky Cabrera didn't go to the Twins for Johan Santana. The 2008 Yankees will be a slightly older albeit considerably more expensive version of the 2007 team. And......

Atlanta 99 Knicks 93: They simply couldn’t bring this one home. Ahead 91-90 with less than three minutes in the game, the Knicks went cold on both ends of the floor and lost. Jamal Crawford made two turnovers, missed two shots and totally blew a defensive assignment as the Hawks went up 94-91 with 34 second left. The Knicks got the ball back and went inside to Randolph who already had 29 points, but he......

The Mets introduced Johan Santana, their newest player and best attempt at getting back to the World Series, in Flushing yesterday. Just last week, the Mets and Santana agreed to a six-year $137.5 million contract that makes the Mets a favorite in the National League. Scores of press were on hand for the introduction, as well as David Wright, Omar Minaya, owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon, and Willie Randolph. Before his official introduction, the Mets......

It may have taken a few extra hours, but the Mets finally got their man. The Mets and Johan Santana agreed to a six-year, $137.5 million contract, with a club option for a seventh year. When the Mets and Twins agreed to the trade on Tuesday, Major League Baseball gave the Mets and Santana until 5 p.m. Friday to reach a deal. With the deadline approaching yesterday, but no agreement reached, the two sides asked......

The big sports news of the day isn't the Super Bowl. It's the probable Johan Santana trade that the Mets and Twins agreed to yesterday. And from the reaction of the local papers and sportswriters, it seems like the Mets pulled a fast one on the rubes from Minnesota. If the Mets can sign Santana to a contract extension, it's likely that he will become the highest paid pitcher in baseball, surpassing Barry Zito......

The Mets have finally landed a much needed arm to lead their rotation. USA Today is reporting that the Minnesota Twins and the Mets have agreed to terms for pitcher Johan Santana. The two-time Cy Young winner comes to the Mets at a high cost, with the Mets delivering outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey to the Twins. Conditions of the deal include the Mets and Santana reaching agreement......

Could this be it? Is our long nightmare about to end? It sounds like it might because there are strong indications out of Minnesota that the Twins are finally going to trade Johan Santana and the front-runners right now are the New York Mets! While the Mets haven’t been able to match the Red Sox or the Yankees in terms of top prospects, they appear to be willing to provide more prospects, up to five......

Twins 6, Yankees 2: Beating Johan Santana is tough enough with an A lineup. Doing it with three reserves becomes nearly impossible. The Yankees tried and failed to beat the Cy Young Award winner by sending out Kevin Thompson, Miguel Cairo and Wil Nieves on the same day. Part of the blame goes to manager Joe Torre for choosing to rest everyone en masse, but part of the blame can rest on the Yankees' perpetual......