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Santana, Mets win 'Subway Series' opener

May 17, 2008 - 10:04 PM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- For most of Saturday afternoon, Johan Santana's first taste of the "Subway Series" resembled many of his previous interleague starts - and it was exactly what the New York Mets needed.

Santana gave up three home runs but pitched effectively into the eighth inning and led the Mets to a 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees.

David Wright hit a two-run home run and had three hits for the Mets, who were coming off a disappointing 3-4 homestand against Washington and Cincinnati.

Jose Reyes also homered for the Mets, who were playing their first game since closer Billy Wagner sparked a controversy by appearing to call out teammates during a postgame interview following Thursday's 1-0 loss.

"We just need to get where we feel good about ourselves," said manager Willie Randolph, who conducted a lengthy pregame meeting before Friday's scheduled series opener was rained out. "It's no secret that we needed to win in the worst way."

Wright said he was not a big fan of having meetings but joked the strategy was smarter knowing Santana was pitching.

"That makes it look a lot smarter when you got your ace going the next day," Wright said. "It's always exciting looking ahead to call a meeting when we got Johan on the mound."

Santana (5-2) pitched a season-high 7 2/3 innings and allowed home runs to Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu among his seven hits. He left the game after Abreu homered and Jeter doubled.

"That's what I'm here for," Santana said. "That's what I want to do. That's what my role is. I'm here to help this team win games. I'm pretty sure everybody feels the same way, but every time I go out there, I'm trying to make it special. It's my first time in the National League but, at the same time, I'm trying to help this ballclub."

"He's my stopper," Randolph added. "We got him here to be the ace of our staff and that's what he was today."

Before the eighth, Santana had a smooth afternoon, shutting down the Yankees after Jeter's two-run homer in the first opened the scoring.

Questionable baserunning hurt the Yankees in the third inning, as Johnny Damon tried to score and was tagged out by catcher Brian Schneider, who effectively blocked the plate after getting a perfect relay throw from second baseman Luis Castillo.

"We always work on the fundamentals," Randolph said. "Sometimes, you don't (get) them right, but that was a perfect example of what the relay's all about. Luis made a perfect throw to home plate and it was just a great job of Schneider blocking him (Damon) off the plate a little."

After Abreu's double, Santana - a two-time Cy Young Award winner - retired 10 straight hitters on only 25 pitches before Giambi homered in the seventh.

"It seemed like (the) second time around they were a lot more aggressive than first time around," Schneider said. "(The) second time, we tried to mix in some pitches a little more and they were more aggressive and they were swinging at some more off-speed stuff. It doesn't just take Johan throwing different pitches. The other team's got to be up there hacking."

"I'm pretty sure you're not going to a get a lot of hits off Santana," Damon added. "After the first inning, he was cruising."

Wagner replaced Santana and ended the eighth by getting Hideki Matsui on a weak grounder to second. He worked around two hits in the ninth to convert his ninth save in 10th opportunities this season.

Santana, whom the Yankees were unable to acquire from Minnesota due to their unwillingness to part with young pitching, is 4-0 in his last six starts. He also improved to 17-4 in interleague games and 4-0 in nine career appearances against the Yankees.

With the exception of a three-run fourth, the Mets struggled against Andy Pettitte (3-5), who gave up three straight hits and a bases-loaded walk to Schneider in the inning.

Pettitte threw 41 of his season-high 116 pitches in the fourth. After Schneider's walk forced in the tying run, Castillo reached on an infield single that rolled halfway down the third-base line before stopping.

"You can't walk guys," Pettitte said. "It's a mental battle. You're fatigued out there when you have to throw 30-40 pitches to get through an inning. That's as much a battle as anything."

The Mets finally opened some breathing room by roughing up Kyle Farnsworth in the seventh.

Reyes led off with a home run into the right-field seats and following a walk to Ryan Church, Wright lined a 2-2 pitch over the right-field fence to make it 6-2.

The Mets added an insurance run in the ninth on Carlos Delgado's RBI single off Joba Chamberlain.