US – Wednesday, June 10

Out of character

Mets go long, Santana goes off in Mets' victory

MLB. It was an explosive night for the Mets both at the dish and on the mound. In the center of it was ace Johan Santana.

On a night that saw the league’s 28^th ranked home run hitting team crush three bombs —including the game-winner off the home run apple in center field — and win one of the most entertaining games in recent franchise history, the good vibrations were overshadowed by a looming controversy involving manager Jerry Manuel and Santana.

Manuel pulled Johan Santana in the eighth inning of the Mets’ 6-5 win over the Phillies last night at Citi Field after he gave up a solo shot to Chase Utley. When the manager came to the mound, Santana held the ball high and, according to both, said “I’m a man.”

"It was nothing," Manuel said. "He's constantly competing."

Santana, though, wanted to stay in the ball game.

“I just told him that I felt good. I was not trying to show anybody up or anything. I just felt that I had enough stuff to battle through it, but he felt differently," Santana said. "He’s my skipper and I respect everything that he does, but I felt I had enough stuff to battle through that inning.”

Facing one of the National League’s more power-packed lineups, Santana (8-3) tied a career high by allowing four home runs. The last time he gave up four in a game was July 23, 2007, in Toronto as a member of the Twins.

In seven innings plus, the Phillies recorded eight hits and five runs off the lefty. Santana walked one and only struck out two.

“They’re one of the strongest teams in baseball. If you make a mistake, you’re going to pay for it," Santana said. "I think it was a case where I made a mistake three times tonight and they were able to hit the ball out of the park. That’s the way it goes."

The Mets gave Santana a 3-0 advantage on the strength of a David Wright’s (4^th of the season) solo shot in the second and Carlos Beltran’s (8^th of the season) two-run homer in the third.

The lead didn’t last as Ryan Howard (18^th) and Raul Ibanez (20^th) hit fourth-inning solo homers to cut the lead to 3-2. Noted Mets nemesis Jimmy Rollins (4th) crushed a two out, two-run homer in the sixth which gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Mets picked at Philly starter J.A. Happ and reliever Clay Condrey (4-1) for two runs to retake the lead, 5-4. The lynchpin for the inning was Santana, who ripped a one-out RBI double down the right-field line. Alex Cora’s two out RBI single drove in Omir Santos to regain the lead.

Church’s seventh inning solo shot to dead center that bounced off the home run apple increased the lead to 6-4. The second of the season for the Mets’ every day right fielder turned out to be the game winning hit.

Afterward, Church joked that he was going to receive cases of apple sauce for hitting the apple.

“They moved the fences in. Really, they did,” deadpanned Church. “Got the monkey off my back, finally. Finally got on here at Citi Field and hopefully there’s many more to come.”

Relievers Bobby Parnell, Pedro Feliciano and Frankie Rodriguez combined to throw two shutout innings after Manuel lifted Santana following Utley’s solo, which shot cut the lead to 6-5. Rodriguez earned his 16^th save, tied with Anaheim’s Brian Fuentes for second most in the league behind San Diego’s Heath Bell’s 17.

METS NOTES:

-- The Mets announced that J.J. Putz underwent successful surgery the bone spurs in his elbow at the Hospital for Special Surgery. The setup man is expected to start throwing in six weeks.

-- The Mets selected Ward Melville (Long Island) left hand pitcher Steven Matz with their first selection (72^nd overall) in the 2009 First Year Player Draft. The 18-year-old Matz compiled a 6-1 record with a 0.47 ERA in seven starts. With the 103^rd pick, the Mets nabbed Florida Southern College shortstop Robert Shields. A junior, Shields hit .345 and scored 65 runs this past season.

Denis Gorman

US – Wednesday, June 10

Ryan Church’s 415-foot solo homer in the seventh turned out to be the game-winner. Both teams combined for seven homers.

Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Enter the gauntlet

Mets begin rough run to the break with a win over Phillies

Mets 6, Phillies 5

The Phillies don’t have to wait until September to knock the Mets out of contention this year, but they failed in an attempt to pad their divisional lead last night.

The Phillies, who lead the Mets by two games in the National League East, have plenty of chances to break the Mets before the All-Star break. The Phillies play the Mets five more times — the headliner of the Mets’ brutal schedule — to close out the first half. The Mets play 17 of the next 28 games against division leaders, plus a four-game set with St. Louis, which has led the wild card for most of the season.

After dropping two of six to basement dwellers Pittsburgh and Washington, the Mets combined for three homers to bail out Johan Santana, who had an RBI double of his own.

“Right now, we just need to win games. That’s the only thing that matters,” Gary Sheffield said. “It’s not another series. It’s a division team, where you can make up ground. So it becomes more important in that aspect. We want to make up ground.”

Despite a rash of injuries, the Mets are acutely aware that dropping the Philadelphia series would put them behind the 8-ball.

“We had a tough stretch on the road trip. They’re not going to feel sorry for us because we have guys hurt,” Ryan Church said. “They’re going to try to beat the crap out of us.”

DENIS GORMAN

US – Wednesday, June 10

Phils starter J.A. Happ gave up four runs in 5 1/3 innings and took a no-decision last night in New York.

Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Mets topple Phils

• Mets 6, Phillies 5

Three things we saw last night:

1 Everybody hits. Who says that Citi Field is a hitter’s nightmare? David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Ryan Church, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley combined to turn the Mets’ palace into a New York version of Citizens Bank Park. None was bigger than Church’s seventh-inning solo shot to dead center.

2 Mound presence. Facing one of the NL’s more power-packed lineups, Johan Santana tied a career worst by allowing four home runs. He wasn’t dominant, but he was the ace that the Mets need him to be. Meanwhile, Phils sophomore J.A. Happ gave up four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. Clay Condrey took the loss, his first of the season.

3 Playing for keeps: For two years, the Mets called on Billy Wagner to close games. The lefty brought heat, but could be wild. In signing Francisco Rodriguez, the Mets added a closer that can bring intelligence and heat. In the ninth, he masterfully mixed pitches to salt away the kind of game the Mets used to lose.