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Struggling Mets turn to Santana to stop slide

Apr 23, 2009 - 11:10 PM By Nicolino DiBenedetto Stats Writer

Washington (3-11) at NY Mets (6-9) 7:10 p.m. EDT

FLUSHING, New York (AP) -- The New York Mets spent the offseason addressing a bullpen that was the main culprit of consecutive late-season collapses. Some attention to the rotation might be in order now.

The Mets hope ace Johan Santana can help them snap a four-game losing streak Friday night when they open a three-game home set against the Washington Nationals.

During a two-day span in December, New York (6-9) signed closer Francisco Rodriguez, who had a record 62 saves for the Los Angeles Angels last season, and acquired setup man J.J. Putz from Seattle in a three-team, 12-player deal.

Those moves were expected to fix a bullpen that posted a 6.23 ERA while blowing four of six save chances as the Mets went 7-10 down the stretch last season to waste a 3 1/2-game lead to Philadelphia in the NL East and miss the playoffs. It was the second consecutive season that the relievers were blamed for a September collapse.

This year, the revamped bullpen's 2.85 ERA ranks among the best in the NL, but the Mets' rotation is toward the bottom with a 5.68 ERA. That includes three impressive starts by Santana (2-1, 0.46), who has allowed one earned run in 19 2-3 innings.

The left-hander was outstanding again Saturday, allowing five hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings of a 1-0 win over Milwaukee at Citi Field.

"The thing that amazes me is it appears people know it's coming - they know it's coming," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "He is able to execute and locate the fastball to where you get a good swing on it in this park, you hit it to the big part of the park."

Santana will try to help New York rebound from Thursday's 12-8 loss at St. Louis. Mets starters allowed 16 earned runs in 14 2-3 innings during the three-game sweep and only retired one batter past the fifth inning.

"They're just going to have to pitch better," Manuel said. "If it doesn't get any better, then you have to make some adjustments. It's that simple."

Manuel might be relieved to have Santana, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, on the mound. Santana went 3-0 with a 2.57 ERA in three starts against the Nationals (3-11) last season.

The Mets won 12 of 18 meetings with Washington in 2008.

The Nationals own the worst record in baseball and will now turn to Scott Olsen (0-2, 9.00), who gets a fourth attempt to win his first game since being acquired from Florida in a five-player deal in November.

The left-hander, who went 8-11 with a 4.20 ERA last year, is coming off his best outing for Washington. He allowed three runs - two earned - and six hits with five strikeouts in seven innings of a 9-6, 11-inning loss to the Marlins on Saturday.

"He was tremendous," manager Manny Acta told the Nationals' official Web site. "He was able to throw every one of his pitches for strikes. He had an incredible amount of fastballs for strikes. He used both sides of the plate. That's what we are anticipating to get out of this guy more often than not."

Olsen is 0-5 with a 5.52 ERA in eight starts against the Mets since posting his only win against them April 30, 2007.

He'll try to end that slide and help the Nationals bounce back from Wednesday's 1-0 loss to Atlanta after they took the first two games of that series.