The Mets now have had back-to-back complete game shutouts as Santana and Dickey became the first pair of Mets pitchers to post shutouts since Pedro Astacio and Jeff D’Amico went the distance in consecutive two-hitters on May 14-15, 2002 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Notching their major league-leading 18^th shutout this evening, the Mets have had their last four victories all come in shutouts.

Dickey (8-5) was just what the doctor ordered for the Mets in throwing a complete-game shutout against the National League East Rival Phillies. The righty was able to baffle the Phillies batters, striking out seven while only giving up one walk and one hit. The lone hit for Philadelphia came from opposing pitcher Cole Hamels, who laced a single to right field. Hamels (7-9) went eight innings for Philadelphia in a fine start, striking out eight Mets hitters. What hurt the lefty were the five hits that he gave up to the Mets with four of them falling in for extra base hits.

In speaking about his starter Mets manager Jerry Manuel had this to say, “Today he (Dickey) was very impressive for us. He is very much a competitor and he knew what he needed to do and he did it.”

After the game Manuel continued to say how he felt that pitching and defense was also a part of that Mets prescription for leading them to victories in the rest of the 2010 season. Well the Mets got plenty of great defensive plays in the game as in the first two innings shortstop Jose Reyes made two very nice diving plays for New York.

“We put an emphasis on pitching and defense, and we think that is our formula to win games,” Manuel said after the game, “Guys have responded very well to that formula so far.”

Mike Hessman also had two very nice defensive plays for the Mets, both coming in the bottom of the second inning taking care of two very hit ground balls and was able to make the outs against two very speedy runners. Hessman also recorded his first major league triple in the bottom of the fifth inning, but not without help of instant replay.

It seemed as if the rookie was able to hit a first pitch changeup into the crowd in left field which fell for what was originally called a home run.  That call was immediately protested by the Phillies players and manager Charlie Manuel as a fan interference play. In doing the right thing the umpiring crew immediately went into the replay booth inside of Citi Field to make the correct call. The umpires came out after a six minute delay to tell the rookie that he was going to get a triple. After the umpires call was made the 35,440 in attendance very upset immediately voicing their displeasure at the reversed call.

“The umpiring crew went to Major League Baseball for the official ruling,” Manuel explained of the overturned call. “They look at all of the different angels and they made that determination.” Hessman was awarded third base because, “When the ball hit the wall, Mike was already past second base and on his way to third; so I thought it was the right call for us.”

New York wasn’t able to cash in on that extra base hit as Hamels worked out of trouble. It would not stay that way for the Philadelphia starter as consecutive doubles in the bottom of the sixth inning by David Wright (29) and Carlos Beltran (6) was all the Mets needed to win the game.

“Having Beltran and Wright get hits tonight for us was a huge boost to our offense,” Manuel said after the game. “If we can get them both going at the same time it will be a positive thing for us offensively.”

Also contributing to the Mets offense was left fielder Angel Pagan who out hustled a very strong throw by shortstop Jimmy Rollins. Pagan continued to show off his speed by stealing second and third base (28). Catcher Henry Blanco was another part of the Mets offense in the bottom of the seventh inning, when scorched a ball down the left-field line for a ground-rule double (5).

The Mets will try to continue to ride this shutout momentum, and keep to the doctor’s prescription in game two against the Phillies on Saturday at 7:10 p.m. Philadelphia will send out their own doctor in Roy “Doc” Halladay (14-8, 2.34 ERA) takes on Pat Misch. The 28-year-old lefty was 11-4 with a 3.23 ERA for Triple-A Buffalo will be called up to make the first start of the 2010 season. Mish had a taste of action with the Mets last season posting a 4.12 ERA in 59 innings.

Rodriguez took his anguish out on reporters in the clubhouse when asked “If he was ready to pitch.”  Because the Mets bullpen imploded and squandered a lead, as K-Rod with two outs in the eighth inning was not called on by manager Jerry Manuel to get a four-out save.

“I didn’t pitch,” said an angered Rodriguez. “I don’t have to talk to you guys,” as he stormed out of the clubhouse and is now known, he assaulted his father-in-law. With the bases loaded, Manuel opted to use the seldom used Manny Acosta who threw a 2-2 curve to Melvin Mora that went over the left field wall.

The grand slam for Mora, the fourth of his career and a National League leading ninth given up by Mets pitchers this season, also epitomized another night of frustration that may have also put a final dent in any hopes for a Mets postseason. The Mets failed to win back-to-back games for the 42^nd straight time, and the K-Rod incident also indicates a frustration and implosion of a season gone bad.

Acosta followed the grand slam with a walk and two singles, including a run scoring single hit by Clint Barmes to short left. “It was a slider, a good pitch,” commented Acosta about the home run ball thrown to Mora.

“I’ve been in this situation many years, and I know the pressure isn’t on me it’s on the pitcher,” said Mora about his grand slam. The former Met added, : “I love that pressure and I love that situation.”

“I knew he had a chance when he swung the ball, it was a big hit, a big win,” said Carlos Gonzalez,” ranked in the top five of the National League in average, home runs, RBI and ruins scored.

Manuel defended his reason for not using K-Rod in the situation, way before his closer had his eruption in the clubhouse and then taken into custody. “Usually when we use K-Rod the night before we wouldn’t take that shot,” he said referring to Rodriguez working the previous evening when he notched his 25^th save with a perfect ninth inning.

“We have to find a way to get that out,” he said. “We have no margin of error.” And Mets fans, many of the 30,554 who left after the bullpen implosion let Manuel know they were displeased not bringing in K-Rod by chanting a “Fire Jerry” chant. The Mets trail first place Atlanta by 9-1/2 games and need to jump over six other teams in the wild card race.

“That’s part of it,” Manuel said. “When you make decisions and they don’t work out New York will let you know.”  The Mets were limited to three hits as the offense continues to struggle. David Wright also heard it from the fans, striking out four times which tied a career high. Since the all-star break, Wright is hitting .196 and .061 in the month of August.

After a first inning where the Mets scored their two runs on the 10^th home run of the season hit by Angel Pagan, a career high, the Mets would produce one walk and one other hit.  At one point Rockies pitching struck out seven straight, including winning pitcher Matt Belisle (5-4) who came out of the pen and struck out three in the seventh.

The Mets did not get a base runner after the fifth inning. “I’m not having much fun right now,” said Wright, its rough.” As for the fans also getting on his case, he said “They are obviously frustrated as we are. The fans have every right to voice their opinion.”

Jonathon Niese gave up one run in seven innings and struck out seven failing to get the decision as the Mets bullpen gave up five Colorado runs in the eighth inning with two outs. “This is rough,” said Niese. “It’s tough to watch.”

Manuel said Niese was complaining about pain in his lower hamstring, a reason he did not come out for the eighth, But, like so many negative conditions that exist with the Mets, Niese contradicted what his manager said when asked if there was a problem again with his hamstring.

More so, much tougher to watch a team implode as they may be without their closer. Rodriguez has more pressing issues to deal with as Johan Santana (9-6) takes the mound Thursday afternoon and tries to earn the Mets a series win in what will probably be a very hush Mets clubhouse.

A season on the brink and very little to save, no pun intended.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

In a telephone interview, Fletcher indicated she would monitor Francoeur’s playing time over the next week, interested in whether or not manager Jerry Manuel follows through on his amended plan to let Francoeur face right-handed pitchers, a group he historically struggles against and is hitting just .217 against this season.

“Talk to me is just that: It’s talk,” Fletcher said. “What matters is what happens and is he in right field every day. And that’s what we’re watching.”

How does Mets management put up this bullshit? Who the fuck is Jeff Francoeur and Ms. Molly Fletcher to tell the Mets who to play and when they play? The Skill Sets cannot be this yellow bellied that they that take this from some agent not named Scott Boras? I hate to tell you this Mets fans but shit like this would never ever fly in the South Bronx. Could you imagine a player as sucky as Frenchy sending his female agent in to the Bronx Robber Baron with demands such as these?

“You tell him, he will never hit another one again,” laughed closer Frankie Rodriguez. “He grabbed a bat and was walking around the dugout saying he was going to hit one out.”

Of course with Santana leading the staff in home runs, other pitchers have to get their shot.

“As soon as he hit it, [Mike Pelfrey] ran in to the cage and started taking some extra batting practice,” deadpanned R.A. Dickey with the righthander in earshot and added, “So I have to hit one now, that’s how it works.”

The bottom line is that Santana finally found the formula to get himself back in the win column. As Jerry Koosman once said, “Shut them out and hit one out. Then you got yourself a win.”

And it seems like Santana needed the third home run to win this one, as the Mets still struggled to score runs. Only a fortunate sixth inning gave the ace some cushion in route to his sixth win of the year.

But it’s been like that for Santana all season. With very few runs behind him, he had no room for error. Unfortunately it meant he went through his rough patch in June, while the Mets were piling up the wins. But as the page turned to July it seemed to be Santana time.

He is 61-19 with a 2.73 ERA during the second half of the season. In 2008, he went 9-0 down the stretch and now it looks like he’s doing it again. Santana made a change in his arm angle, which is allowing his fastball a more explosive look, going back to the low-90s. Couple that with a change in his motion, which stopped tipping his pitches and you can see why he’s the Johan Santana of old.

“I am throwing my fastball much better,” Santana said. “And that makes my other pitches better.”

Especially his changeup, which is deadly.

“You saw hitters taking that changeup before,” said manager Jerry Manuel, “where tonight you saw it’s like he pulls the bat through the strike zone with that changeup.”

That’s why Manuel quickly retreated to the dugout with one out in the ninth and runners on first and second after Jason Bay’s error. The look on his ace’s face told the story.

“I’ll finish it,” he said.

And two pitches later he did ending an almost perfect night by the Mets ace.

Rodriguez may be right in that Santana may never hit another home run, but who cares? The most important thing is that the real Johan Santana is back.

It was a two-hit complete game 7-0 shut out over the potent Yankees lineup, 115 pitches and everything in his arsenal. As he said, “the slider, curveball, just tried to throw as many strikes as I could.” The Yankees could do nothing and seemed frustrated as they returned to the dugout.

Hernandez would not compare his performance to Lee. What mattered was the Mariners once again got two consecutive complete games from Lee and Hernandez.  And it was the second time this season that Lee and Hernandez won back-to[back games.

It was the third straight complete game for Hernandez, two of them going as a win. Lee got the win Tuesday evening in the Bronx, his third consecutive complete game. “It happens, it happens,” said Hernandez about what he and Lee accomplished over the Yankees the past two nights.

Was there an incentive to top what Lee did? “We’re different pitchers,” said Hernandez who has a career 15-3 record in the month of June. The 24-year old native of Valencia Venezuela also had 11 strikeouts and as play concluded moved to second in that department in the American League.

More importantly, as the Yankees have discovered, if the Mariners continue to get this type of pitching from Lee and Hernandez, well they can make some noise in the second half of the season.

“You talk about the impact that Lee has on this pitching staff, I think it pushes Felix,” commented Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu. “I thought it was the best pure stuff that Felix has shown in a game.  He really dominated and kept their hitters off balance. It was a tremendous performance.”

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said about Hernandez “He’s as good as we have seen all year. His slider, changeup and curveball, he had it all working tonight. He’s got electric stuff.”

Hernandez finished the month of June with a 4-1 record and a 2.36 ERA and over his last four starts is 3-0 with a 1.26 ERA. “We knew his ability was there,” added Wakamatsu. “The key thing was getting the complete games.  Every time you have an outing like this it’s something to look back on and learn from it.”

The last time the Yankees had back-to-back complete games thrown against them was back in April of 2000 when Toronto’s Chris Carpenter and Kelvin Escobar did it up in Toronto. And it has not happened in consecutive home games since 1991.

Said Girardi, “Good pitching will always beat good hitting; that’s the bottom line.”  For the Mariners the bottom line is getting the rest of their pitching staff to follow in the footsteps of Lee and Hernandez.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

Centerfielder Angel Pagan had a great day at the plate going four-for-six matching a career-high in hits tonight while also driving in four RBI. Also having a good night for the Mets offensively was Ike Davis who was three-for-six while driving in three runs.

“Angel has been playing extremely well for us,” Mets manager Jerry Manuel said after the game. “He got big hits for us tonight, he hit that fastball for a triple and he’s just played extremely well.”

Mets starter Jonathon Niese had a great start but could not hold on to get the win. Niese pitched a three inning shutout before finding trouble in the fourth inning. Relief pitcher Fernando Nieve had a solid outing in getting his second win of the season going 2 and one-third innings striking out four batters while only giving up one walk.  The rest of the Mets bullpen was solid as well as Bobby Parnell who made his 2010 Mets debut this evening had a scoreless eighth inning striking out two batters.

“Nieve looked really well out on the mound the last two outings,” Manuel said. “He has pitched very well for us; he was really able to stretch out a couple of innings for us and gave us a chance to score runs which was huge.”

New York got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the first inning as Jose Reyes hit a leadoff infield single. Pagan ripped a triple (5) to center field. David Wright plated the second run with a sacrifice fly to right field.

In the bottom of the third was a huge one for the Mets as they were able to plate eight runs and bat around the order. Wright started the offense that inning with a walk. Ike Davis continued with a single to left-center field. Jason Bay plated the third run by scorching a double to the exact same spot. That was when the rain began to pour along with more Mets runs as Tigers Pitcher Jay Sborz making his Major League Debut in the worst possible manner by hitting both Rod Barajas and Jeff Francoeur to plate the fourth run. Ruben Tejada hit into a fielder’s choice play which plated the fifth run. Back-to-back singles by Reyes and Pagan continued the inning for the Mets, while Pagan plated two more runs. Wright would bat for the second time this inning and cashed in with a single to center field.  The Tigers would call in Brad Thomas to try to shut down the offense, but it would not work out as Davis would plate two more runs by ripping a double to left field to plate the final two runs and make the score 10-0 in favor of the Mets.

The top of the fourth inning was when Niese the perfect game was spoiled, as Miguel Cabrera ripped a double (20) to right-center field for the first Tigers hit. Brennan Boesch hit a home run (11) to right-center field to cut into the lead. In the bottom half of the inning the runs would continue to pour in as Pagan would plate another run with a double (14) to center field, which plated Reyes who singled to center earlier in the inning.

Niese continued to find trouble in the top of the fifth inning as he hit pitch hitter Ryan Rayburn. Austin Jackson doubled (18) to plate Rayburn. Gerald Laird placed a single to center field which would plate Jackson cutting the Mets lead to 11-4. The fifth Detroit run would be plated one batter later as Brennan Boesch hit a single to center field. Mets manager Jerry Manuel had to make the call to the pen as Fernando Nieve would come into the game. Nieve would give up a hit to Danny Worth which would plate the sixth and final run before striking out the side.

“Niese was trying to be too careful with the lead,” Manuel said to reporters of his starters’ performance. “It was a good lesson for him tonight on the mound. To have a big lead and not go back out right away and pitch, and it was a good lesson.”

Reyes and Pagan would get the Mets offense going in the bottom of the sixth. Reyes struck out was able to get to first as the final strike went wide and hit the backstop. Pagan ripped a single to right field setting up runners on first and second for David Wright who hit a double (19) to left field and plating Reyes. Ike Davis hit a single to left field to plate Pagan and finally the third and final run was scored as Jason Bay lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to make the score 14-6 Mets.

Game two between these two teams will happen on Wednesday as righty R.A. Dickey (5-0, 2.82 ERA) takes on Jeremy Bonderman (3-4, 4.06 ERA) the first pitch for game two is slated for 7:10 p.m.

This story was originally posted on www.latinosports.com

But Jose Reyes of the Mets connected on the second pitch of the game, a home run to right field off Hughes, The Yankees would even things up in their half of the first on a ground ball double play hit by Mark Teixeira.  In the end though, Hughes was better and Pelfrey struggled.  The Yankees would take game two of the Subway Series in the Bronx 5-3.

Reyes would connect again in the third after Henry Blanco the ninth man in the order walked. It was the sixth multihomer game for Reyes, his fifth homer of the season that was almost hit in the same spot as the first one. The ball was flying out of the ballpark at Yankee Stadium on a sunny and warm afternoon, but Pelfrey could not keep the Yankees quiet, a team that struggled to score runs the past few games.

“I didn’t have a fastball today,” admitted Pelfrey (9-2) who let the leadoff hitter reach base in five of his seven innings pitched. He allowed five runs the most since allowing six to the Phillies on May 1^. “I ended up getting behind guys,” he said. “They gave me a lead, I just couldn’t hold it. We’re playing well. I just feel bad.”

Mets manager Jerry Manuel has seen the development of Pelfrey, who has become one of the premier pitchers in the National League. And he realizes that sometimes he is still young and prone to mistakes.

“I think that he’s been elevating a few of his pitches,” said Manuel. “He is still a young pitcher who over the course of a season and in his career will hit small bumps. He just has to look back on them and get better.”

A reason the Mets have been playing well is because of Reyes and number two hitter Angel Pagan. Also the Mets starting pitching coming into the game was 18-3 with a 2.49 ERA over their last 29 games dating back to May 17. Pagan went 2-for-3 with a walk, single and double extending his hitting streak to eight games, batting .352

Reyes, 2-for-4 extended his hitting streak to 11 games and is batting .438 in that stretch, and with his day has now hit safely in 10 straight road games at the Yankees. “Some stadiums you feel comfortable hitting, I feel comfortable here,” said Reyes about his streak at the old and new stadiums in the Bronx.

“I feel at home,” said Reyes with a smile about once again being comfortable in the leadoff spot.  Mets batters though, after the Reyes one-out home run in the third, had just three hits and two walks

The Mets had a few opportunities against Hughes but failed to capitalize. As hot as they have been, there was still that confidence they could get to Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera who pitched the eighth and ninth innings to close the door

Rivera got his 16^th save of the season when he got Ike Davis swinging, Jason Bay on a ground out to second and Chris Carter on a ground out in the ninth “He throws hard and can challenge you,” said the rookie Davis about Rivera.

As for the missed opportunities, the Mets leaving runners on second base in the sixth with Hughes on the mound, and in the eighth Manuel said, “Their guy (Hughes) made some good pitches at the right time or was able to get a double-play or pop up when he needed to,”

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

I want to revel in the Mets victory last night in the South Bronx, as the Mets looked like the more confident and aggressive team but I’m still trying to get over the confusing nature of Jerry Manuel’ managing.

Why would you have Jose Reyes sac bunt in the 8^th with Tejada on 1^st,no outs?  Reyes is so uncomfortable bunting for a sacrifice to start with then you add in he is on fire with the bat, the move made no sense. Reyes saved his managers ass by doubling down the RF line. When Reyes got to second we saw the Jose of old, clapping those hands and that intense look on his face, pointing toward teammates, vintage Reyes.  But in his post game press conference, Manuel expressed concern over Reyes getting over emotional, Hey Jerry, that’s when we know Jose is at his best when he jumping, clapping and going handshake wild. The fans love it, his teammates love it so what’s the problem? Are you afraid of pissing off the opponent?  The Highlanders? Fuck them.

Again the game of Jerry Manuel Roulette was played with the bullpen as no one, the relievers in particular can figure out how Manuel will use the pen. Why would you use Ruben Valdes in the 9^th inning of a 4-0 game, a game you said you wanted to make sure you won? Valdes is a mop up guy at best. Even your pitchers are questioning your madding methods.

Why is John Maine guaranteed a spot in the rotation when he comes back? I must have missed the years Maine won his Cy Young Awards. The way Takahashi has pitched no way Maine gets that spot now. Get ready for the Roulette wheel John .

I want to revel in the Mets victory last night in the South Bronx, as the Mets looked like the more confident and aggressive team but I’m still trying to get over the confusing nature of Jerry Manuel’ managing.

Why would you have Jose Reyes sac bunt in the 8^th with Tejada on 1^st,no outs?  Reyes is so uncomfortable bunting for a sacrifice to start with then you add in he is on fire with the bat, the move made no sense. Reyes saved his managers ass by doubling down the RF line. When Reyes got to second we saw the Jose of old, clapping those hands and that intense look on his face, pointing toward teammates, vintage Reyes.  But in his post game press conference, Manuel expressed concern over Reyes getting over emotional, Hey Jerry, that’s when we know Jose is at his best when he jumping, clapping and going handshake wild. The fans love it, his teammates love it so what’s the problem? Are you afraid of pissing off the opponent?  The Highlanders? Fuck them.

Again the game of Jerry Manuel Roulette was played with the bullpen as no one, the relievers in particular can figure out how Manuel will use the pen. Why would you use Ruben Valdes in the 9^th inning of a 4-0 game, a game you said you wanted to make sure you won? Valdes is a mop up guy at best. Even your pitchers are questioning your madding methods.

Why is John Maine guaranteed a spot in the rotation when he comes back? I must have missed the years Maine won his Cy Young Awards. The way Takahashi has pitched no way Maine gets that spot now. Get ready for the Roulette wheel John .

I guess we are so used to seeing an authoritarian pitcher in Johan Santana that when he’s not striking out guys at a 9K per game clip or watch that walk rate creep up last three years we ask “Have we seen that last of Dominant Johan”  when we should be asking “are we watching the re-invention of Johan”

Mike Silva has a great post on this today at NY Baseball Digest looking at the different scenarios that have made Santana less than the dominant pitcher we know and love.

I will say this for Santana, he has terrific focus and he is one of the smartest pitchers in baseball, if he has to compensate for a lack of velocity and the inability to over power a batter, I’m confident he can figure out a way to go after the hitters with a different strategy. We are seeing his Fly Ball rate dropping and his ground ball rate inching up so you could see Santana concentrate more in keeping the ball lower in the strike zone and pitching to contact.

We also have to understand that at the age of 31 most likely we have seen the best of Santana. That’s not to say he’s done or on the down side not in the  least, what we could be seeing is a solid pitcher but he may not be the can’t miss option he’s been for the majority of his career.