More Mets History For Santana, But This Time It's Nothing To Celebrate

By John Schweibacher
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Johan Santana's struggles continued last Friday night, as he allowed six earned runs and took the loss in the Mets' loss in Washington.

Santana has an ERA of 8.27 in 10 starts since his no-hitter against the Cardinals on June 1. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that's the highest ERA over any pitcher's next 10 appearances following a complete-game no-hitter since baseball began recording earned runs 100 years ago.

Santana is 0-5 with an ERA of 15.63 in his last five starts, having allowed 33 earned runs and 43 hits in 19 innings over those games. Elias notes that no other major-league pitcher since 1900 has lost five consecutive starts in which he pitched a total of fewer than 20 innings, while allowing as many earned runs and as many hits, and with as high an ERA, as Santana.

Santana allowed a grand slam to Mike Morse in Friday night's loss in Washington. It was the fifth bases-loaded homer allowed by Santana as a Met, which according to Elias, broke a tie with Ron Taylor, Tug McGraw, Al Leiter and Armando Benitez for the most allowed in club history.

Here are the grand slams allowed by Santana and the other four Mets pitchers who gave up at least four career bases-loaded blasts:

Johan Santana (5):
· Felix Hernandez Sea 6/23/09
· Josh Willingham Was 4/11/10
· Shane Victorino at Phi 5/2/10
· Mark Teixeira at NYY 6/20/10
· Mike Morse at Was 8/17/12

Armando Benitez (4):
· Preston Wilson at Fla 5/6/00
· Pat Burrell Phi 6/21/00
· Benito Santiago at Cin 9/6/00
· Javy Lopez at Atl 6/28/01

Al Leiter (4):
· Shawn Green at LA 5/29/00
· Marty Cordova at Tor 7/16/00
· Barry Larkin at Cin 4/20/01
· Jeff Conine at Fla 7/11/04

Tug McGraw (4):
· Willie McCovey at SF 9/27/67
· Willie McCovey SF 5/10/70
· Hal King at Atl 8/14/70
· Bob Bailey at Mtl 7/3/73

Ron Taylor (4):
· Dick Allen Phi 9/29/68
· Vic Davalillo at Stl 7/2/69
· Jimmy Wynn Hou 7/30/69
· Deron Johnson Phi 6/20/71

Kelly Shoppach hit his first Mets home run last week in Cincinnati. It was just the third by a Mets catcher this season, the fewest of any club in the majors:

(*stats through 8/19)

The Mets host the Rockies and Astros this week at Citi Field. The Mets took two of three from the Rockies in Colorado back in April. Colorado swept a four-game set from the Mets last season in their lone visit to Citi Field.

This weekend's visit by the Houston Astros will be their last as a National League opponent. The Mets may not be sorry to see their expansion partner leave the Senior Circuit after 51 seasons. The Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers are the only N.L. clubs the Mets have fared worse against all-time than the Astros:

Craig Biggio appeared in the most games (163) for the Astros against the Mets and he also collected the most hits vs. them (152), while his long-time teammate Jeff Bagwell hit the most home runs for Houston against New York (25). Bob Watson's career .320 batting average against the Mets is Houston's all-time best against New York.

Larry Dierker's 14 wins against the Mets lead all Houston pitchers. Nolan Ryan had the most career strikeouts for an Astros pitcher vs. the Mets (152) and J.R. Richard leads all Houston starters with an ERA of 1.90 all-time against the Mets.

Schwei's Runs, Hits and Errors:

Runs: Jon Rauch. Mets reliever has allowed just one run over his last 21 outings.

Hits: Ike Davis. Mets first baseman's 17 road home runs lead the National League and trail only the White Sox' Adam Dunn's 22 for the most in the majors.

Errors: No Errors. Mets begin week without an error in nine straight games, second only to an 11-game errorless streak from July 3rd through July 18th as the club's longest in 2012.

How will the Mets fare this week? Make your prediction in the comments below...

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• Houston Astros
• New York Mets