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Santana dominates, Mets hang on for win over Phillies

Apr 19, 2008 - 4:26 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) - The game started out as a pitchers' duel before the bullpens made it a wild finish.

Johan Santana tossed seven-plus strong innings and David Wright went 4-for-4 with two RBI as the New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-4, in the opener of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park on Friday.

Wright finished a homer shy of the cycle for New York, which won its fourth game in a row and third straight over the Phillies. The Mets were coming off a 14-inning, 3-2 victory over Washington in which they used six relievers.

"It's another one of those early-season tests for us," Wright said. "We played well against them at home. Now, we have to prove that we can go win in Philadelphia. They're an excellent team, one of the elite teams in the National League."

Santana (2-2) not only went deep into the game, but also rebounded from a rough outing his last time out. The lefthander allowed five runs in 6 2/3 innings in a loss to Milwaukee last Saturday.

"It's what we're looking for every time (Santana) goes out there," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "We expect him to do that kind of stuff. That's the kind of pitcher he is. The first time in this park, he obviously wasn't intimidated."

The two-time Cy Young Award winner looked more like his usual self, as he allowed three runs on four hits. The lefthander had 10 strikeouts without issuing a walk.

"This is a new thing for me, going to new ballparks in a different league," Santana said. "I threw a lot of sliders today and they were breaking pretty good."

Wright provided the Mets a 2-0 lead with an RBI double in the first, and an RBI triple in the third.

"We had a couple of big RBI hits early," Wright said. "Johan pitched an excellent game, so when you have that two-run cushion it allows Johan to go out there and relax."

Santana was cruising along, retiring 18 of the first 20 batters, before Chase Utley led off the seventh inning with a home run to right-center field to slice the lead to 2-1.

"I felt good right from the beginning of the game," Santana said. "Utley got a pretty good swing on a fastball and put it out of the park. With this kind of a team, you can not make mistakes, because every time you make a mistake it's gonna be out of the park."

New York responded by chasing Phillies starter Cole Hamels with a three-run eighth. Carlos Delgado, Angel Pagan and Brian Schneider all drove in runs during the frame.

Hamels (2-2), who had won his previous two starts, dueled with Santana until finally faltering in the eighth. The lefthander allowed five runs - four earned - and eight hits in seven-plus innings. Hamels struck out four and walked three.

"(Hamels) pitched a good ballgame, (but) he walked three and two of them (scored)," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

New York appeared to be in command with a four-run lead, but Santana left the game after giving up two singles to start the bottom of the eighth. Aaron Heilman came on and was greeted with a pinch-hit, three-run home run by Greg Dobbs that pulled Philadelphia within 5-4.

Heilman retired the next two batters before giving way to Pedro Feliciano, who got Utley on a called third strike to end the inning. The Mets tacked on an unearned run in the ninth off Brad Lidge for the final margin.

Billy Wagner restored order with a scoreless ninth to notch his third save.

"They got a big boost when Dobbs hit the home run, but we were able to pull out that win," Wagner said. "You know they're always gonna have that seventh- or eighth-inning rally. You've got to weather it. Johan gave us enough comfort level to go out there and build up enough of a lead."