With the Mets mired in a four-game skid, tumbling back to .500, they turned to ace Johan Santana to be their stopper.
And he performed like the two-time Cy Young winner he is in a 4-3 victory over the Diamondbacks at Citi Field, gutting through seven innings, which were more hard work than work of art, to earn his first win in nearly 20 months.
“That’s what aces do. They stop losing streaks. They take it upon themselves to do that,’’ manager Terry Collins said. “They know when times are tough. They’ve got to raise their game up. He’s that guy.”
Blessed with some rare run support — catcher Mike Nickeas and center fielder Andres Torres each hit two-run singles in the fourth inning — and with the battered bullpen finally holding onto a lead, Santana notched his first win since Sept. 2, 2010, his last appearance before undergoing the left shoulder surgery that cost him all of last year.
“It’s always good to get the win,’’ said Santana, who improved to 1-2. “Every time we win it’s a good feeling, especially after four straight losses. We won, and that’s the most important thing. The situation we were in, losing four games, I wanted to help and somehow stop it and give our team a chance to win. That’s all I was doing, going inning by inning and trying to keep the score there and trying to compete.’’
For Santana, yesterday was far more about competing than dominating. He had to rely on his slider early until he could find his trademark changeup and get some life back on his fastball. He allowed nine hits over his seven innings, but gave up just three runs, struck out five and walked only one.
“He competes so well even when he doesn’t have his good stuff,” Collins said. “He doesn’t give in, doesn’t quit. He continues to try to make pitches, to work the strike zone. He made a statement to me the other day, which I thought was great, that he’s going to make them adjust to him. And he stays with that plan.’’
Santana, who had two sacrifices and a single, threw 108 pitches — his most since Aug. 28, 2010 — the last of which struck out Jason Kubel to cap a 1-2-3 seventh inning. The Mets’ beleaguered bullpen bounced back with two scoreless frames after coughing up an eighth-inning lead on Friday night.
“I’m feeling good,” Santana said. “That’s something I’m going to have to overcome, trying to extend as much as I can. My command struggled a little bit, but I was able to find the right pitch when I need to.’’
After only scoring four runs for Santana in his first five starts, the Mets matched that in the fourth inning yesterday. With the bases loaded, Nickeas singled in two runs to chase rookie left-hander Patrick Corbin. Then after Santana moved two runners over with a sacrifice bunt, Torres’ two-out single put the Mets up 4-1.
“I wouldn’t say he had his most outstanding stuff, but he battles as good as anybody,’’ Nickeas said of Santana.
Santana gave up a two-run double to Paul Goldschmidt to make it 4-3 in the fifth inning.
But Bobby Parnell pitched a dominant eighth and Frank Francisco closed the ninth.
“The way he battles, I can’t explain it,” said Daniel Murphy, who tied a career-high by going 4-for-4. “He works fast, is easy to play behind, pounds the strike zone. He battled today, gave us a chance to win.’’