It seems that Johan Santana's problem was that he was pitching too well.
Since his last victory on May 23rd, the Mets ace had pitched three times before Tuesday night. In those three games, he gave up four runs over 21 and two-thirds innings but got just two runs in support from his offensive teammates. So, naturally, Santana gives up four runs in the first four innings against the lowly Indians, strikes out just one batter and leaves with the victory that's eluded him over the last three weeks.
The manner in which he got the victory should make Santana and all the rest of the Mets left over from 2009 grin a little wider than normal. The Indians put on an exhibition that was par for the course for that miserable baseball bunch.
They made three errors in the field and several other mental miscues that enabled the Mets to turn bunts and routine grounders to infielders into hits. The Mets had six infield hits, most of them to shortstop Jason Donald who might have been receiving karmic retribution for his role in robbing Armando Galarraga of a perfect game.
Last year, it was the Mets who gave games away in this manner. This year, they play flawlessly in the field and hustle down the baselines to force errors by their opponents. The Mets have largely eliminated the mental and effort mistakes that haunted them in 2009, a point that's been driven home by watching the Orioles and Indians stumble around the field in the last four games.
The schedule will get more difficult once the Mets leave Ohio but, thankfully, any future losses won't solely be because of their own doing.
Well, that's not quite true. Francisco Rodriguez is rapidly turning from that closer who makes every outing interesting to the closer that makes you watch games through your fingers because you're terrified about what might happen on every pitch. He made a comfortable 7-4 game into a 7-6 nailbiter by giving up a homer to Shelley Duncan in the ninth, the kind of result that happens far too often for the Mets to feel totally secure about the man they have slamming the door.
Worries for another night, along with the concern about Santana's dwindling strikeout rate, because the Mets are knocking on first place's door.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
