Santana Tries Reverse Psychology

Johan Santana has had enough and I think the bullpen woes are starting to get to him. So what did he do about it on Tuesday night? He tried to blow the game for the bullpen before they got a chance to. I guess you might call it a little reverse psychology.

And crazy enough it worked.

Santana was given a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st, but he quickly found a way to give it right back. The crazy thing was the Nationals were getting serious hits off of Santana. These weren't balls that just found the hole or blooped into the outfield. They were hitting rockets down the lines. Yes, the Nationals. And Langerhans, who had no home runs this year, hit a bomb off Santana. What is with Santana and giving up home runs to no name guys? I haven't seen him give one up to Pujols or Howard or Burrell. But Langerhans?

Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez kept talking about pitch count when the game was 3-3 in the 7th, and I'm think how on earth can anyone in the Mets organization be thinking about pitch count when you have this bullpen. If I'm Jerry Manuel, I'm telling Santana before the game that he's got to give me 9 innings. Period.

But after the Mets finally regained the lead after Damion Easley got plunked in the head to score a run, a miracle happened. The bullpen didn't blow it.

Come on, who didn't think that after Joe Smith gave up a lead off hit that we were headed to another crushing defeat at the hands of the bullpen? I know I did. And when Manuel decided to bring in Pedro Feliciano to pitch the entire 9th, I thought I was going to have a stroke.

But it all worked out. The Mets got a much needed win to put the debacle with the Pirates behind them. Oh wait, we're supposed to beat the Nationals?