Homers hurt Dickey; Santana's status uncertain

CHICAGO - Despite the start of a weekend series against the Cubs, the focus early Friday morning at Wrigley Field again was on Johan Santana, who had to leave the previous night's game in Atlanta because of a strained left pectoral muscle.

As manager Jerry Manuel tried to round up enough healthy bodies for what wound up as a 7-6 loss to the Cubs on Friday afternoon, the status of Santana remained a mystery, and the pitcher himself didn't provide many answers.

Stopped on his way to the trainer's room, he was asked for an update on his condition.

Smiling, he replied, "I'm good, guys," and proceeded to joke with pitching coach Dan Warthen. Santana comically blamed Warthen for pulling him from Thursday's game after five innings and 65 pitches, then swatted him with a pair of socks he was holding in his left hand.

Maybe that was a positive sign. Santana didn't seem to favor his left arm in harassing Warthen. But the Mets will need more tangible proof from Santana - such as light throwing Saturday - before giving him the green light for his next start Tuesday in Washington.

"In talking with him, he didn't seem concerned, but that's Johan," Manuel said. "We have to really watch and see how he responds when he's playing catch. That will be the telltale sign."

But there's really no point in keeping Santana on turn, not after two operations in the past two years, and not when he's nursing an injury. The Mets easily could use Pat Misch or even Oliver Perez in that spot. But at the moment, Santana refuses to concede his turn.

"We'll make it simple," Santana said after the game. "We'll wait. They said a couple days and we'll see how it is [Saturday]."

The team's de facto ace, R.A. Dickey, got roughed up by the Cubs, allowing three-run homers by Alfonso Soriano and Blake DeWitt.

The Mets built a 3-0 lead for Dickey in the first inning, with David Wright supplying a two-run double that eluded Soriano and caromed off the ivy-covered wall in leftfield. But Soriano's three-run blast in the fourth put the Cubs up 4-3, and DeWitt's shot in the sixth gave Chicago a 7-4 lead. Wright homered in the seventh and Luis Hernandez added a solo shot in the eighth.

"The [knuckler] to DeWitt flattened out and I basically put it on a tee for him," Dickey said. "It was a mistake and it cost us."

As soon as Dickey opened Friday with two perfect innings, he again qualified to be among the National League's ERA leaders, with 1351/3 innings in the team's 135th game. Despite allowing a season-high seven earned runs in six innings, which sent his ERA from 2.57 to 2.91, he slipped only one spot to eighth on the leader board.

With Santana in limbo, the Mets did get Angel Pagan back after he missed the last three games in Atlanta with right wrist tendinitis. Pagan went 3-for-5 and scored two runs from the leadoff spot. Afterward, he had a huge ice wrap on the wrist.

"It's not 100 percent," Pagan said, "but it's good enough to go out there and battle. That's what I was looking for. When I had more pain, I felt like I wasn't doing any good for the team."