Winning Formula

Maybe Johan Santana should ease up just a little bit on his pre-game ritual of sharing a personalized handshake with all of his teammates - bat boys, training staff, and bullpen catchers included. Don’t laugh. He might be wearing his hitters out before they even take the field, as evidenced by the grand total of four runs the Mets have managed in his three starts.

Of course, the reality is Santana doesn’t need all that much run support. He was brilliant again, as the Mets beat the Brew Crew 1-0 on a gorgeous sun-drenched Saturday, the first official day game in Citi Field history.

Santana should thank Ricky Weeks, who dropped a routine toss from Prince Fielder on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Alex Cora in the 7th inning. Weeks’ error helped the Mets push across a run off reliever Carlos Villanueva. A line drive off the bat of Jose Reyes, the next batter, literally knocked Villanueva’s glove off his hand and produced the game’s only run.

A scoreless inning each from Putz and K-Rod, the winning formula drawn up in the winter, sealed the deal.

I wonder if Mike Francesa still thinks it’s the Mets who have problems. Right now the Indians are up by 18, and they haven’t even attempted a three-point field goal.