After the Mets narrowly avoided being swept by the Nationals,they open up the Dodgers series with another loss as Santana delivered another lackluster performance. Murphy and Valdespin were great, but the rest of the guys could not capitalize so Mets lose tonight 7-6.

Johan Santana does not like pitching in the second half so far. Another rough start as he allowed six earned runs on seven hits, two homers, two walks, while striking out three in only three innings pitched. If you are not worried about Johan by now, you should be. He is having a rough July. in three starts this month he hasn’t pitched pass the fifth inning, and has allowed  a whopping six runs in each of those three starts. He has allowed a total of six home runs in that span, that’s more than he allowed in his five starts in June. He has had a winless June, and his ERA…well let’s just say it’s through the roof. Santana losses his seventh game of the season and now has a 3.98 ERA.

Pedro Beato pitched two hitless innings, while striking out one. Ramon Ramirez also picked up two innings as he allowed one run on two hits, one walk, and struck out three. That one run was really the difference maker. Tim Byrdak and Jon Rauch combined for two scoreless innings and three stikeouts.

How in the world is Jordany Valdespin not starting everyday? If there was such a thing, he would win the MVPH (Most Valuable Pinch-Hitter) award. He has done it again with another pinch-hit, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh that got the Mets within one run of tying the game. In the ninth, he stayed in as the left-fielder, and got a base hit and made it to second on a throwing error. The old saying of “Money Plays” is in force here as Bay continues to start over Valdespin in left field.

Daniel Murphy had an impressive night with four hits, including a double, an RBI and a run. Almost back up to what he was hitting early in the season as he is at a .297 batting average.

David Wright and Josh Thole both went 0-for-3 with a walk each, and three strikeouts combined. Wright is hitting .350, while Thole is hitting .270.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Ronny Cedeno, and Justin Turner all had one at-bat and all struck out.

Game Ball

Would have been Valdespin if the Mets capitalized on his big hit, however, Murphy’s four-hit night was impressive and gets the game ball.

Notes

Jordany Valdespin is still the man right now.

Ike Davis had one hit tonight. He has 61 hits for the season with 53 RBIs, hitting .207.

Up Next

Matt Harvey Miguel Batista will start Saturday for the day against the Dodgers and former Met, Chris Capuano. Game time is 1:10 PM on WPIX. Let’s Go Mets! Stop losing!