Mets 7, Nationals 2: Any time a pitcher has more extra-base hits than he allows, things must be going well. Johan Santana cracked two doubles and allowed only one -- ironically it was hit by Nationals starter Tim Redding -- as he and the Mets snapped the team's three-game losing streak. The Nationals have proved a nice cure for the Mets this season; New York is 4-0 against the ex-Expos. Ryan Church, moved up to......

Photograph of Johan Santana giving the ball to manager Willie Randolph by Ed Betz/AP Brewers 5, Mets 3: Mets fans that had waited two months -- or even longer -- to see Johan Santana make his Mets Shea Stadium debut left disappointed. Santana gave up five runs (four earned) and took his second loss of the year in three starts. Three home runs proved to be his undoing Saturday. He didn't get much help......

Photograph of the Devils' Zach Parise putting the puck past Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist by Bill Kostroun/AP Devils 3, Rangers 2 (SO): Needing a win in regulation to secure home ice in the playoffs, the Rangers pulled out all the stops. Not even adding an extra skater by pulling Henrik Lundqvist could do the trick, however, and the Devils finally beat the Rangers. New Jersey had lost the first seven games between the clubs......

Photo of Johan Santana pitching against the Marlins by AP/J. Pat Carter The rain that postponed the Yankees' regular-season opener was nowhere to be found in South Florida, where the Mets disposed of the Marlins, 7-2, to start their eagerly awaited 2008 campaign. Johan Santana, living up to the trade and subsequent contract extension that made him a Met, struck out eight in seven innings of two-run ball. David Wright's three-run double capped a......

Photo of Carlos Beltran rounding third after a two-run home run against the White Sox in the Civil Rights Game by AP/Bill Waugh Few players can catapult a team from worriers to prohibitive favorites, but Johan Santana can put his name on that list. Before the Mets got him, they and their fans were looking over their shoulders to the Phillies and Braves. Now the team is almost overloaded with optimism. That hope --......

Johan Santana got traded to the Mets about two weeks before the start of spring training, but his face popped up more in the Mets offseason than anyone else's. This was a great way for the Mets to take the attention off the dreadful collapse they suffered at the close of the 2007 season. Before the Mets reported to camp, they had something positive to talk about rather than the evaporation of a seven-game lead......

For all the noise of this Yankees offseason, as far as the team on the field goes, all it amounted to was the status quo. Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera are all back -- and richer. Young pitchers Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and center fielder Melky Cabrera didn't go to the Twins for Johan Santana. The 2008 Yankees will be a slightly older albeit considerably more expensive version of the 2007 team. And......

Atlanta 99 Knicks 93: They simply couldn’t bring this one home. Ahead 91-90 with less than three minutes in the game, the Knicks went cold on both ends of the floor and lost. Jamal Crawford made two turnovers, missed two shots and totally blew a defensive assignment as the Hawks went up 94-91 with 34 second left. The Knicks got the ball back and went inside to Randolph who already had 29 points, but he......

The Mets introduced Johan Santana, their newest player and best attempt at getting back to the World Series, in Flushing yesterday. Just last week, the Mets and Santana agreed to a six-year $137.5 million contract that makes the Mets a favorite in the National League. Scores of press were on hand for the introduction, as well as David Wright, Omar Minaya, owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon, and Willie Randolph. Before his official introduction, the Mets......

It may have taken a few extra hours, but the Mets finally got their man. The Mets and Johan Santana agreed to a six-year, $137.5 million contract, with a club option for a seventh year. When the Mets and Twins agreed to the trade on Tuesday, Major League Baseball gave the Mets and Santana until 5 p.m. Friday to reach a deal. With the deadline approaching yesterday, but no agreement reached, the two sides asked......

The big sports news of the day isn't the Super Bowl. It's the probable Johan Santana trade that the Mets and Twins agreed to yesterday. And from the reaction of the local papers and sportswriters, it seems like the Mets pulled a fast one on the rubes from Minnesota. If the Mets can sign Santana to a contract extension, it's likely that he will become the highest paid pitcher in baseball, surpassing Barry Zito......

The Mets have finally landed a much needed arm to lead their rotation. USA Today is reporting that the Minnesota Twins and the Mets have agreed to terms for pitcher Johan Santana. The two-time Cy Young winner comes to the Mets at a high cost, with the Mets delivering outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey to the Twins. Conditions of the deal include the Mets and Santana reaching agreement......

Could this be it? Is our long nightmare about to end? It sounds like it might because there are strong indications out of Minnesota that the Twins are finally going to trade Johan Santana and the front-runners right now are the New York Mets! While the Mets haven’t been able to match the Red Sox or the Yankees in terms of top prospects, they appear to be willing to provide more prospects, up to five......

Twins 6, Yankees 2: Beating Johan Santana is tough enough with an A lineup. Doing it with three reserves becomes nearly impossible. The Yankees tried and failed to beat the Cy Young Award winner by sending out Kevin Thompson, Miguel Cairo and Wil Nieves on the same day. Part of the blame goes to manager Joe Torre for choosing to rest everyone en masse, but part of the blame can rest on the Yankees' perpetual......

Twins 9, Mets 0: Jorge Sosa has had good starts this season, but this wasn't one of them. The defense has played near flawless baseball, but it didn't Tuesday. The Mets offense has had its ups and downs, but its efforts in this loss rank among the season's worst. The Mets managed four hits, got only one runner to second base and made Johan Santana, albiet an American League Cy Young Award winner, throw only......

Mets 8, Twins 1: The Mets went 16 days between wins that came on days other than a Friday. What does that prove? Nothing, except that they hadn't been winning that frequently. John Maine put together a good start Monday, however, and the Mets followed suit. Carlos Delgado improved on his .290 on-base percentage by going 2-for-4 with a home run. The other half of Brothers Carlos, Carlos Beltran, took until the eighth inning to......

Phillies 5, Mets 2: If his teammates are the pranking type, Oliver Perez might find a GPS device in his locker Thursday. The Mets left-hander walked seven -- he also hit a batter for good measure -- and couldn't get out of the third inning. Believe it or not, this is the sixth time Perez has walked this many batters. He only got charged with three runs, but the damage had been done. Perez's pitching......

Derek Jeter didn’t win the MVP award yesterday. That isn’t a huge surprise because there was another worthy candidate, David Ortiz. The problem is, he didn’t win it either, Justin Morneau did and once again the baseball writers have messed up. They do this a lot. Pedro Martinez didn’t get the MVP award once because some writers didn’t include him on their ballots since they felt pitchers shouldn’t be able to win the MVP. Same......

For those of you who thought the low-point of the 2005 Yankee season was losing three out of four games to the Devil Rays, guess again. The Kansas City Royals, winners of only 26 percent of their games before this series, completed a three game sweep of the Yankees Thursday night with a 5-2 victory. For the series, the Yankees managed to score a total of six runs against a pitching staff with an ERA......

In a game billed as a must win, the Yankees did just that last night. They defeated the Twins 7-6 in the 12th inning (box score) to even the series at one game each. Unlike game 1, the Yankees brought their bats, hitting three home runs against Twins' starter Brad Radke. By the time the game was decided though, the starters were well gone and the bullpens ended up playing key roles. In the 7th......

In their last playoff game, the Yankees were shut out by the Florida Marlins, losing the World Series. Last night, they were shut out again. The Twins came in the Bronx and stole the first game of the series with some stellar defense. In their 2-0 win (box score), the Twins tied a post-season record by tallying five double plays on the night. Johan Santana, who has not lost since the All-Star break, gave up......

The Yankees take their offense and their payroll to the post-season tonight as $180 million takes on $53 million. While those numbers might speak to the crazy finances of baseball, it doesn't matter at this point, all that matters are wins. Tonight, the Yankees play the Twins in the start of a best of five series. During the regular season, the Yankees took four of six against the Twins, including a three game sweep last......

The Yankees played a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins yesterday and Yankee fans hope the result was a taste of things to come. The Twins, the AL Central champs, are a potential opponent for the Yankees in the first round of the playoffs. In game one, Mike Mussina gave up three runs in the first inning and the Yankees managed only one run and three hits off Johan Santana. Lucky for the Yankees, the Twins......

The Yankees got to Minnesota with a comfortable ten game lead over the Red Sox. That lead is now down to eight after the Yankees dropped two in Minnesota and the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays twice at the Fens. In Tuesday's game, Javier Vasquez took the mound against Brad Radke. Vasquez once again disappointed. He must be the most disappointing 13 game winner in the history of baseball. Gothamist can't remember ever watching......

Mark Mulder, one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, gave up three runs in the first inning to the Yankees. When one of the best pitchers in baseball gives you a three run cushion, you have to take advantage of it, Jon Lieber did not. Going into the 4th inning Lieber had a 4-1 lead on a 3-run Posada home run and a Gary Sheffield (what else is new) solo home run. going......