Santana allowed four home runs ' two to Robinson Cano and three in a row in the fourth inning.
'It's just one of those days. The rest was good, I didn't have my feeling for the change-up,'' Santana said. 'I threw some pitches which weren't even close, and a couple that just stayed up. Overall, I felt good. It's just one of those days where things just didn't work out.'
Santana said he feels fine and the shoulder is completely healthy.
'I thought he needed some extra rest. I am also responsible for the way he pitched tonight,' Terry Collins said. 'He's rusty. The command of his stuff was not as sharp as it's been the last three or four or five starts. So it's my doing, not his'every mistake he made he got hammered. He doesn't make that many mistakes in any game he pitches.'
Santana dropped his third decision of the year to go to 3-3 and his ERA is now 2.96 with 73 strikeouts in 73 innings over 12 starts.
In his career at the new Yankee Stadium, Santana is 0-3 with a 12.21 ERA, having allowed 19 earned runs and 24 hits in only 14 innings spanning three starts.
Michael Baron: Santana summed up his problems accurately last night. He had very little command of his change-up and slider right from the start ' he had good velocity on his fastball and good speed differential with his off-speed pitches, but floated his change-up in particular, and in that ballpark nobody can survive throwing up in the strike zone with anything.
This can be chalked up in a couple of ways, but no matter what is considered the 'cause' of Santana's struggles last night, in the end he did not have the command he needed to give the Mets any chance to win last night's game.
Now, it can simply be viewed as a bad night and Santana was just off his game ' certainly, if he pitches well and gives the Mets quality length, this discussion isn't taking place. Alternatively, it can be perceived that Santana was too strong because of too much rest between last night and his start prior. On the flip side, if Santana had gone on regular rest against the Nationals and was ineffective, we're all talking about how he needed more rest ' it's a catch 22.
I agreed with Terry's approach to be cautious with Santana, and it's unfair for anyone, including himself, to place blame on ensuring Santana is healthy and stays healthy. But it sounds to me Terry has learned there is a fine line with being cautious and being too cautious, and making sure decisions he makes about one player do not hurt the rest of the team. In the end, there's no real way to know if holding Santana back two extra days made him rusty, but the results were very atypical for Santana, and the results are what's ultimately the most important. There is no problem with granting Santana extra rest, but maintaining rhythm and routine are equally as important too ' again, it sounds as though Terry recognizes that going forward.
No-hitters are great, but in the end it's about winning baseball games as a team ' everything else is gravy. Great moments like the no-hitter cannot come at a cost of winning in the games that follow. Santana is definitely the most valuable pitcher on their staff, and so it's important to ensure he is healthy and comfortable at all times. With that said, while Santana's recovery from start-to-start is crucial, sometimes what the eyes and ears say and trusting that observation are equally as important in making these decisions too.
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