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Mets offense backs Santana in 7-6 win over Indians

Jun 16, 2010 - 3:11 AM CLEVELAND(AP) -- When Jose Reyes gave his third-base coach the runaround, the Cleveland Indians never had a chance.

Reyes ran through a stop signal from Chip Hale, racing around him to score from second base on an infield single to help Johan Santana and the New York Mets to a 7-6 win over the error-prone Indians on Tuesday night.

"They say speed kills and tonight it did," Reyes said of his nifty scamper that helped New York overcome a 4-1 deficit to earn its fifth consecutive win. The Mets are 10-2 in June.

"One thing we can bring every game is speed," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "When Reyes gets on, he can be disruptive. The top of our lineup can run and we like to use it."

Reyes was not about to deny Santana (5-3) enough run support.

The left-hander (5-3) won for the first time in four starts. The included two no-decisions when he didn't yield a run over 15 innings in consecutive outings. He gave up four runs and seven hits over seven innings and struck out only one, but earned his first win since beating the New York Yankees in another interleague game on May 23.

"It's always great to get runs," Santana said. "I made some mistakes early, but tried to stay aggressive. Then I threw strikes and tried to protect the lead."

Santana dominated Cleveland early in his career with the Minnesota Twins, but went 0-5 against them in his final year in the AL in 2007 before being dealt to New York. The two-time AL Cy Young winner is 8-7 against the Indians and beat them for the first time since Aug. 15, 2006.

"As soon as he got the lead, he turned it up a notch," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "That's what good pitchers do."

Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth for his 14th save in 17 chances despite yielding a two-out, two-run pinch homer to Shelley Duncan.

New York overcame a 4-1 deficit with a five-run fifth off Justin Masterson (2-6), capped by Ike Davis' two-run homer.

The Mets kept bunting and the Indians handled the ball like a hot potato before Davis delivered.

"We ended up beating ourselves in that inning by not being able to make those plays," Acta said. "You've got to play defense. That inning cost us the game."

Jeff Francoeur singled and Alex Cora got a bunt single when nobody covered first as catcher Carlos Santana fielded the ball. Reyes then bunted for a single. Masterson fielded the ball and threw wildly to first, scoring Francoeur and sending runners to second and third.

"It was like everything kept getting worse," Masterson said. "It's just crazy, kind of a weird night."

One out later, David Wright beat out a single to shortstop Jason Donald. Cora scored on the throw to first and Reyes surprised everybody - particularly Hale - by racing home, too. Reyes ran around Hale and slid in just ahead of the low throw from first baseman Russell Branyan that temporarily popped away, too.

"I knew I could score before I got to third," Reyes said. "He tried to stop me. I went on my own. I knew I had better make it."

Davis even attempted a bunt - against a shift that had only one infielder on the third-base side, but the ball rolled just foul. The rookie then hammered his eighth homer over the centerfield fence to make it 6-4.

"That attempt shows what an unselfish ballplayer Ike is," Manuel said. "But it always appears as if his home runs are big home runs, too"

Davis was surprised Cleveland shifted, calling himself a gap-to-gap hitter.

"That was my second attempt in my life, I think," he said. "The shift takes some things away, but opens other opportunities, so I tried it.

"On the homer, I wasn't sure it was going out. It just kept going, though."

Travis Hafner started the Indians' three-run second with his fourth homer in six games, eighth this year, and fifth of his career off Santana. Trevor Crowe's two-out, two-run single made it 3-1.

Reyes opened the game with a walk, stole second and moved up on a groundout. He scored on an infield single by Wright.

Jhonny Peralta drew an 11-pitch walk in the Indians fourth. The slow-footed Indians third baseman, with nine steals in 891 career games, took off before the next pitch and Santana threw to first for an apparent easy pickoff. Second-base umpire Doug Eddings ruled it a balk, putting Peralta on second. Peralta took third on a groundout and scored on a single by Jason Donald to make it 4-1.

Masterson gave up 10 hits and six earned runs over seven innings. The right-hander threw a two-hit shutout against Boston in his previous start for his second straight win after going 0-11 in 17 starts since August.

NOTES: New York has won 16 of 21. ... Mets RHP John Maine (shoulder) will start at Triple-A Buffalo on Friday, his second rebab appearance. ... Mets 2B Luis Castillo (bruised right heel) and OF Carlos Beltran (right knee surgery) are rehabbing at the team's spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla. There is no timetable for a return by Beltran, who has been out all season. ... Peralta went 1 for 2 with a walk off Santana. He is 4 of 28 (.143) with 22 strikeouts against him. ... Wright has hit .453 (24 of 53) with 16 RBIs over his last 14 games.