Those Mets

SANTANA, AT HIS BEST, GIVES METS SERIES WIN

Johan Santana pitched his second shutout of the season Thursday afternoon in a 4-0 victory over the Rockies. Striking out the side in the first inning, Santana fanned 10 Rockies and allowed just four hits. He extended his scoreless-innings streak to 16 1/3. The Rockies put only one runner in scoring position all afternoon, doing so with two outs in the second. As they did Wednesday, the Mets took an early lead on two quick runs in the first. After Jose Reyes singled and stole second base, Angel Pagan hit an RBI single, Ike Davis doubled and Carlos Beltran hit a sacrifice fly off Rockies starter Jason Hammel. This time, though, the Mets padded their lead with an RBI single from Jose Reyes and a sacrifice fly from Fernando Martinez in the seventh. Earlier Thursday, several Mets responded to the news that closer Francisco Rodriguez was being held in police custody following an alleged assault of his father-in-law in the family room at Citi Field, many of them defending their closer. The Mets vowed not to let Rodriguez's legal troubles become a distraction. "That has nothing to do with the baseball side of it," third baseman David Wright, who received a routine day off Thursday, said before the game. "What's happened off the field has nothing to do with us not being able to score runs or get out of a jam. That has nothing to do with it. We're going to go out there and continue to do what we think is going to help us win." (MLB.com)