GOING DEEP:
Ike Davis belts a three-run homer in the sixth inning of the Mets’ 5-0 victory last night. (
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LOS ANGELES — Johan Santana must have needed a nice bookend to the month in which he became the first Mets pitcher to throw a no-hitter.
He picked the right team and time.
“It’s been good,” Santana said after his three-hitter over eight innings led the Mets past the Dodgers 5-0 at Chavez Ravine. “I’m very happy the way everything went [in June] — a couple of tough games — but the good thing is I feel good and I’m still competing.”
The Dodgers continued their recent free fall by losing for the 11th time in 12 games as offensive stars Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier sit on the sidelines with injuries. The Dodgers have been shut out in five of their past six games, and against the Mets have scored two runs over 27 innings.
The Mets (43-36), who have won four straight, will attempt to complete the four-game sweep when Dillon Gee faces Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw tonight. After losing two of three games against the Cubs earlier this week, the Mets already are assured a winning road trip as they prepare for their final homestand heading into the All-Star break.
Yesterday was a third straight strong performance for Santana (6-4, 2.76 ERA), who struggled facing the Yankees and Rays after throwing his June 1 no-hitter against the Cardinals. The Dodgers didn’t get their second hit against Santana until the eighth inning after Dee Gordon led off with the first with a single.
“Since the no-hitter, this was [Santana’s] best outing so far,” manager Terry Collins said. “I just think that no-hitter took a little starch out of him.
“I was sitting in the dugout today, and he was really starting to get his stuff going and working. [Pitching coach] Dan Warthen said to me, ‘Can you imagine him when he was 95 and 96 miles per hour?’ I can’t. I cannot even believe how good he was, because he’s real good right now.”
Ike Davis helped carry the offensive load with a three-run homer in the sixth inning. The Mets finished the month with 142 runs scored, four behind the Pirates for the major league lead in June.
The victory also gave the Mets a third straight winning month at 15-13 as they moved within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Nationals in the NL East.
Davis’ three-run homer against Nathan Eovaldi, after David Wright was intentionally walked, gave Santana a 5-0 cushion. The homer tied Davis for the team lead with Lucas Duda at 11. It was also Davis’ seventh homer this season that came with at least two runners aboard — helping account for his 45 RBIs with just a .203 batting average.
“Hopefully I can continue to do some damage in situations like that,” Davis said. “Especially if other teams are going to walk David and hopefully toward the second half of the season they’ll have to pitch to him.”
The Mets’ glove-work helped keep them ahead early. In the second, Daniel Murphy went behind the bag and started a 4-6-3 double play on Scott Van Slyke after Santana had walked A.J. Ellis leading off the inning. In the fourth, Wright made a bare-handed scoop and threw out the speedy Elian Herrera trying to bunt for a hit.
Santana had two impressive plays of his own, ranging right to glove Jerry Hairston Jr.’s bouncer in the first and racing from the mound to throw out Gordon on a bunt attempt in the third.