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Johan Santana is amply pleased
Topic Started: Jan 16 2014, 01:35 AM (38 Views)
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LOS ANGELES -- Johan Santana is amply pleased with how his season is going. So are the New York Mets, who were hoping for the best when their lefty ace returned after missing all of last year while recovering from shoulder surgery. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner didnt need the no-hitter he pitched against St. Louis on June 1 to demonstrate how close to his old form he is. There have been several other examples, including Saturday, when Santana scattered three hits over eight innings and sent the Los Angeles Dodgers to their seventh straight loss, 5-0. "Coming into spring training, there were a lot of question marks. So Im very happy to be at this point right now and very happy the way everything has gone," Santana said. "There were a couple of tough games, but the good thing is that I feel good and Im still competing. Thats the key for me. Im just hoping that I stay consistent the whole year." In his fifth start since pitching the first no-hitter in Mets history, Santana (6-4) did not give up a hit between Dee Gordons leadoff single in the first inning and Scott Van Slykes leadoff single in the eighth. Tony Gwynn Jr. singled two batters later and both runners advanced on Adam Kennedys groundout. But Gordon grounded out to third. "After the second inning he got better and better and better, and he got much better command of his fastball and his changeup," manager Terry Collins said. "This is his best outing since the no-hitter." Santana struck out three and walked two while throwing 107 pitches, the sixth time he has reached triple digits -- including the 134 he had in the no-no. The four-time All-Star finished June 4-2 with a 2.77 ERA in six starts. "I had never seen Johan Santana throw a pitch live until this year, so I had no idea what to expect," said Collins, who is in his second season as Mets manager. "When I was sitting in the dugout watching him today, he was really starting to get his stuff working. (Pitching coach) Dan Warthen said to me: Can you imagine him when he was 95 and 96 miles an hour? And I couldnt. I cant even believe how good he was then -- because hes real good right now." Santana is 5-0 with a 0.50 ERA in five career starts against the Dodgers, who were again missing Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Mark Ellis. They havent led at any point of a game since June 24. Ike Davis hit a three-run homer, helping keep Los Angeles sputtering. The Dodgers are in a 1-11 freefall, going from five games ahead in the NL West to a game behind the Giants. At one point, they led by as many as 7 1/2 games on May 27. Nathan Eovaldi (0-5) gave up five runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings. The 22-year-old right-hander has pitched 41 innings in his seven starts this season, and his teammates have totalled just three runs while hes been in the game -- giving him the lowest run support in the majors. The Dodgers have been on the losing end in every one of Eovaldis outings, scoring fewer than three runs in six of them. "I go out there not thinking about that," Eovaldi said. "I just try to compete, try not to let anybody score and give my team the best chance to win. We all know that its going to be a challenge and a battle. You just try to make the best of it." The Dodgers were shut out for the fifth time in six games -- including all three at San Francisco -- and have produced only two runs in their last 57 innings. "When youre not scoring runs, its frustrating," Van Slyke said. "I mean, when you look at the Mets today, they got a double, got him over and got him in in like three pitches. So when youre scoring runs, it looks easier than it actually is. I think its just going to take one game where everyones swinging the bat well to just kind of relax everybody and get things going." David Murphys sacrifice fly in the second inning drove in Davis with the first run after he led off with a double. The Mets used the same formula to account for their second run -- a leadoff double by Murphy and a scoring flyball by Josh Thole. Davis made it 5-0 in the sixth, chasing Eovaldi with his 11th homer, a towering drive to centre field one pitch after an intentional walk to David Wright with Andres Torres at third base. "Yesterday, Murphy and (Lucas) Duda picked me up, but today I was able to get the job done," Davis said. "Just hitting a home run is a great feeling. Hopefully I can continue to do some damage in situations like that, especially is other teams are going to walk David. Maybe towards the second half of the season, theyll start having to pitch to him." NOTES: In each of Santanas five starts since his no-hitter, he allowed a hit before recording his fourth out of the game. He gave up a two-run homer to the Yankees Robinson Cano in the second inning, a two-run double in the second by Tampa Bays Matt Joyce, a second-inning double by Baltimores Matt Wieters, and a first-inning single by the Cubs Alfonso Soriano. ... Murphy has 10 RBIs in four games, equaling the total he had in his previous 25 games and 96 at-bats. ... Saturday was the 50th anniversary of the first of Sandy Koufaxs four career no-hitters, a 5-0 victory over the Mets at Dodger Stadium. ... The Dodgers signed 18-year-old SS Corey Seager, the 18th overall pick in the draft and the brother of Seattle Mariners 3B Kyle Seager. Customized Chase Blackburn Jersey .A. spotlight. Not that steering clear of top billing has hurt this magical run, two wins from concluding in the franchises first Stanley Cup banner. Jason Jones Jersey . -- Canadians brought home a ton of medals at the Dew Cup on Friday. http://www.eaglesteamstoreonline.com/Eagles-Harold-Carmichael-Nike-Jersey-Ia-86.html . The move will reunite Johnson with former manager Mark Hughes, who spent one season in charge at Craven Cottage, while also allowing him to link up with former strike partner Bobby Zamora. Brad Meester Jersey For Sale . The chatter means little to the 24-year-old Leafs goaltender. Refreshed and finally healthy, an upbeat Reimer is intent on reclaiming the starting job in Toronto, anxious to erase the memories of an injury-stained second season. NFL Marcus Thigpen Dolphins Jersey . -- Petr Straka scored once and set up three more as the Rimouski Oceanic crushed the visiting Halifax Mooseheads 9-0 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Milos Raonic lost for the second straight week in an ATP quarter-final, falling to Stanislas Wawrinka on Friday at the Western & Southern Open. Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., now heads to the U.S. Open after losing his first meeting with Wawrinka 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. The 21-year-old came to the court leading the tournament with 54 aces and added 17 in his losing effort over nearly two and a half hours. Raonic ended with 36 winners and 38 unforced errors, converting on only two of his six break chances. "I would have done a lot different," said the disappointed Raonic. I started well but I was waiting for him to lose the match instead of me winning it. "It hurts to lose like that, it went by fast at the end. I was too passive in the second set. I needed to create more chances for myself." Raonic dominated in the 33-minute first set as Wawrinka struggled to find his rhythm. But once the Swiss player got comfortable his heavy shots bbegan to fall against Raonic, who was playing Cincinnati for the first time.dddddddddddd Raonic played level throughout the second set, which went into a tiebreaks. Wawrinka then levelled the sets at one apiece after more than an hour. In the third set, Wawrinka went up after an early break and finished off the victory on a second match point after missing an overhead on his first. Raonic, who is ranked 19th and will be seeded when the U.S. Open begins a week from Monday, also lost in the quarters last week in Toronto at the Rogers Cup to American John Isner in straight sets. Raonic stands 33-14 on the season with titles at Chennai and San Jose in the first two months of the year. He remains optimistic head to New York. "Im on the right track, Im playing good tennis, I have some things to change but they are not that big. "I feel like I can do something at the Open. I feel Im well-prepared and more experienced in what I have to do to win."
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