Those Mets

METS FINALLY BACK UP JOHAN

METS TOP TRIBE AND WIN 9TH OF LAST 10

The warnings have been there all season, those ominous statistics underlying Johan Santana's nifty earned-run average. The Mets ace has not yet discovered his Cy Young self, although he has often found a way to compete. Tuesday night, his strategy was an unfamiliar one: receive ample run support. Before the 7-6 win over Cleveland - the Mets' fourth consecutive victory on this road trip and fifth straight overall - Santana ranked 106th among National League starters in run support, receiving 4.45 runs per game. But on this night, a two-run homer by Ike Davis, three runs batted in by David Wright and three Cleveland errors salvaged the pitcher's seven-inning, four-run performance. "It was time we gave him the opportunity to kind of relax on the mound," said Jerry Manuel. "Not every pitch was a crucial pitch for him." For weeks, Santana's issues have been clear, despite his impressive efforts to succeed in spite of them. His ERA was under 3.00 until Tuesday night. Entering the game, Santana had walked three batters per nine innings, his worst ratio since he became a full-time starter for Minnesota in 2004. The 31-year-old had been averaging 6.1 strikeouts per nine innings, nearly 30% fewer than his career average of nine. Entering Tuesday night, his strikeout to walk ratio in 2010 was 2.07, way down from his career mark of 3.57. Pitching coach Dan Warthen believes that Santana's issues are a result of injuries in 2009, which culminated in season-ending elbow surgery Sept. 1. "Last year he had a bunch of little nagging things," Warthen said. "And because he's the athlete that he is, he found a way to compete, and I think he made some mechanical changes to do that. This year has been about trying to get him back to where he was early last year." After his previous start, a loss to San Diego, Santana retreated to the video room with Warthen, and the two studied his pitching motion. According to Warthen, they "felt the arm was in the right slot, but we didn't feel that he was loading the same way that he has in the past." Translation: Santana has developed a bad habit of rotating his midsection too early in his windup, causing his arm to lag. That has made his fastball cut out of the strike zone, and affected the sharpness of his changeup. Before the game, Warthen said that he saw evidence of improvement in Santana's most recent bullpen session. Tuesday night demonstrated that Santana had not overcome his bad mechanical habits. Given a 1-0 lead, he allowed three runs in the second, and one in the fourth. "I was just trying to stay focused, and hope those guys scored some runs - and they did," Santana said. "Any time you have a chance to score some runs and win a game like this, it's good." His performance shifted dramatically after the fourth inning, when he did not allow another run. Davis' homer keyed a five-run fifth, and Santana, as Manuel put it, "got on a roll late." Although Francisco Rodriguez allowed a two-run homer in the ninth, Santana was able to leave with a win for the first time since May 23. Before that, his last favorable decision came April 27. Two wins in nine starts, the result of paltry run support and a diminished repertoire. Tuesday night was far from a masterpiece, but Santana was relieved by the result. "It's nice to get a win," he said, exhaling. "Finally."