(Anthony J. Causi / New York Post)
This was a different Johan Santana than the one who pitched against the Twins two starts ago — the Santana who didn’t fool anyone with his changeup and got knocked around by his former team.
And it didn’t take long for Mets catcher Rod Barajas to notice the difference.
“That start against the Twins, early on, every change he threw, they weren’t budging,” Barajas said. “This was a completely different story.”
This was a story that included a livelier fastball, a more effective changeup — and even Santana’s first major-league home run.
It ended with Santana’s first shutout since 2008, a three-hit, complete-game 3-0 Mets win over the Reds last night at Citi Field.
“When he can throw his fastball with that life, I can see him having a pretty good run for us,” said manager Jerry Manuel, who also pointed to Santana’s revamped delivery, which helps him avoid tipping his change.
“It gives him the feeling that he’s not giving anything away.”
Santana still isn’t convinced that was a problem for him, pointing more to his improved fastball.
“I don’t know about tipping pitches,” he said, “I’m just trying to be more consistent.”
Whatever the reason, the Mets are just glad to have the Santana they’ve had over his past two starts, following four straight in which he gave up at least four runs.
“People are starting to take swings that I used to take against him,” Jeff Francoeur said of Santana, who was hitting low-90s mph consistently, instead of mid-high 80s, as he was several starts ago.
“There was a lot of talk in the last month or two about, ‘Is he an ace anymore?’ and I think the last couple of outings, he’s shown he’s still a pretty good pitcher,” Francoeur added.
Last night, he also showed, unexpectedly, that he could swing the bat. His third-inning solo homer, after a 12-pitch at-bat, proved to be all the offense he needed — although Jason Bay provided a cushion with a two-run single in the sixth.
“I didn’t believe it was out,” said Santana, a lifetime .166 hitter who won for just the second time in eight starts and threw his first shutout since Sept. 27, 2008 against Florida.
After receiving a total of one run from the offense over his previous three starts, last night seemed like an onslaught.
Bay made things interesting in the ninth, though, when he lost a ball in the lights and Santana faced runners on first and second with one out.
Manuel checked on Santana, who told him he wanted to finish the game — and then retired the next two batters.
“I told him, ‘I’ll finish it’ ” Santana said. “Simple.”
Santana walked three and struck out five.
While he still isn’t featuring the kind of stuff that made him so feared earlier in his career, he showed he still can dominate.
“Considering the home run, it was probably the best game for a starting pitcher this year,” Barajas said.