The  Mets new ace froze the first batter he faced, Marlins leadoff hitter Hanley Ramirez, with a nasty slider inside.  Strike three.  And the Johan Santana era has officially begun!

Santana was as advertised, throttling the Marlins 7-2 in the Mets season opener with a 3-hit, 8-strikeout performance.  The Marlins were unable to mount a consistent offensive attack as Santana reared back and overpowered most hitters.  The Marlins would have been shut out if not for a single mistake by Santana,  a fourth inning changeup that caught the fat part of the plate and which Josh Willingham golfed over the massive “Teal Montser” in Dolphin Stadium’s left field for a 2-run homer.  That cut the Mets’ lead to 6-2, but the Marlins would go quietly the rest of the way.

The most impressive aspect of Santana’s evening was the ability to bounce back from the Willingham homer and to completely stifle any hope of the Marlins through the 5th, 6th and 7th innings.  In the fifth with runners on first and second and one out, Santana got pinch hitter Jason Wood to wave ineffectively at a fiesty sinking changeup for strike three.  The next hitter, Ramirez again, was victimized by a vicious fastball that had a lot of movement, heck it probably had flames shooting off it.  Strike three again, inning over.

Then in the 6th it was Mike Jacobs’ chance to look silly as Santana’s tailing fastball “completely befuddled” Jacobs for strike three, in the words of SNY commentator Ron Darling.  (Gotta love Darling’s Ivy League vocabulary).  That made four strikeouts in a row for Santana.  All Marlin hope squashed.

Santana got stronger as the game wore on.  Darling observed that after the Mets scored 6 runs in the top of the fourth, and Santana sat around for half an hour, that he “lost a little of his command.”  Santana showed an ability to pick and choose pitches and manage the game, so that any loss in control did not endanger the game.  But what’s really amazing is how much movement his pitches have, causing hitters to take wild hacks and hit harmless fly balls.

Santana was the center of attention, but actually the Mets were clicking on all cylinders and should be delighted with a victory that showed promise for all facets of the team.  The Mets will need production from the bottom of the lineup when the opportunities are there and that’s exactly what they got.  Angel Pagan, the spring standout, got the start in left and came through with the Mets 1st RBI of the season when he zipped a double down the third base line in the fourth inning.  With hitters on first and second and none out, SNY commentators conjectured that Pagan might be called upon to bunt.  But Randolph played it aggressive and Pagan came out swinging, and it worked.  The next hitter Ryan Church also came through, jumping all over a fastball from Marlins starter Mark Hendrickson for a RBI single. (Yes Hendrickson’s a leftie, which Church supposedly can’t hit).

The Mets will also need clutch two-out hitting from their leaders, and they got some of that too.  Jose Reyes punched an RBI single over the shortstop’s head to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.  And then there was David Wright, who crushed a bases-clearing double that bounced all the way to the wall.  When the dust cleared the fourth inning was a 6-run muscle flexing by the Mets.

The bullpen also looked like a strength last night.  With a 4-run lead Randolph had the luxury to try out some different set-up approaches.  When Matt Wise let up a couple of chippie singles to start the eighth, Randolph was able to turn to Scott Schoeneweis and Jorge Sosa to clean up the mess.  I’m a big fan of Sosa, so its good to see him possibly earning a defined bullpen role, since the Mets resisted making him a starter.  Sosa whistled a 3-2 slider past Willingham for strike three to end the inning, and left the mound with an emotional fist pump, as if to tell Mets fans “I’m ready to help.”  Aaron Heilman pitched a perfect ninth as the closer Billy Wagner got the night off.

Plenty of positives to build upon, none bigger than the new ace throwing fire.

Like this post? Share it »

Last post (s) by Mark Reichman

• Big Ben's Toughness Too Much for Jaguars' D - October 7th, 2008
• Jaguars Face Doubts on D vs. Steelers - October 2nd, 2008
• Garrard's Legs, Leadership Carries Jags to Win Over Texans - September 30th, 2008