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Santana overcomes Mets errors, beats Red Sox 5-3

May 23, 2009 - 3:38 AM By HOWARD ULMAN AP Sports Writer

BOSTON(AP) -- Johan Santana did fine against the Boston Red Sox hitters. His own fielders gave him problems.

The ace lefty should be used to it.

The New York Mets won 5-3 Friday night despite making three errors. More than a third of their miscues, 12 of 35, have occurred in Santana's starts. And only 10 of the 17 runs he's allowed this season have been earned.

"After a mistake or error, you try and bounce back and get the next guy," Santana said. "That's what I was doing."

All three errors, two by shortstop Ramon Martinez and one by third baseman David Wright, came with fewer than two outs, and Santana (6-2) retired all the batters who followed in those three innings.

"He doesn't let it get in the way," Martinez said.

The game became testy in the fifth, when Santana hit Kevin Youkilis on the elbow with a pitch and the players exchanged words.

Youkilis said he reacted by saying, "'That hurts.' I was joking around." He also said Santana wasn't throwing at him. But Santana took it seriously.

"Two outs, two strikes, there's no way I'm going to try and hit somebody," Santana said. "I hit him and he started looking at me. If you look at me, I'm going to give it back."

New York broke a four-game losing streak and never trailed after Gary Sheffield's 502nd career homer and third of the season made it 1-0 in the second. Jason Varitek's eighth homer tied it in the bottom of the inning before New York took the lead for good against Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-2) with three runs in the fourth.

Matsuzaka was activated Friday after going on the disabled list April 15 following two poor outings.

"My pitches today were the best of all my recent starts, including my (three) rehab starts," he said.

Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his 12th save in 12 opportunities.

Santana allowed two earned runs, six hits and a walk in seven innings. He struck out eight, getting David Ortiz and Youkilis three times each. In his other four appearances at Fenway Park he was 1-3 with a 6.89 ERA. He came into Friday's game with an NL-best 1.36 ERA that rose to 1.50.

The first batter he faced, speedy Jacoby Ellsbury, beat out a high hopper to second baseman Luis Castillo. Then came the first error - a tough bouncer that eluded third baseman Wright. But Santana struck out the next two batters and ended the inning with a forceout at second.

The next error came in the fourth.

Jason Bay led off with a walk and was forced at second on J.D. Drew's grounder. Mike Lowell doubled Drew to third and both scored when Varitek's hard shot bounced off Martinez and into short left field. Varitek reached second, but Santana retired the next two batters, ending the inning with a 4-3 lead.

He struggled again in the sixth when Drew led off with a single. With one out, Varitek singled in the hole to Martinez, whose throw to second was low and bounced into right field. That put runners at second and third, but, again, Santana escaped, retiring Julio Lugo and Ellsbury.

He left after striking out the last two batters in the seventh.

"It's just another impressive performance for him," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "I do hope at some point we play a real, real crisp game behind him."

The Mets took a 4-1 lead in the fourth on RBI singles by Wright, Omir Santos and Martinez. Their final run came in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Angel Pagan.

Notes: Pagan replaced RF Ryan Church, who left in the bottom of the fourth with a sore right hamstring. ... Carlos Beltran had a sore right knee and was the designated hitter. ... Ortiz went 0 for 4 and is 1 for 8 in two games since breaking his career-long 149-game homerless drought. ... Wright extended his hitting streak to 13 games and has reached base with a hit or walk in 26 of his 36 plate appearances in the first eight games of a 10-game road trip. ... The Red Sox optioned LHP Hunter Jones to Triple-A Pawtucket. ... Mets SS Jose Reyes is day to day with tendinitis behind his right calf.