Santana unfazed by lack of run support

No more than a minute after news of the Padres-Mets rainout reached the clubhouse last evening, Johan Santana walked into the room. Not the greatest timing, but Santana didn't seem to mind his luck.

Instead of immediately turning around and heading home, the lefthander made the rounds, poking fun at teammates. Then he changed into his workout gear, deciding he was already here so he might as well play catch. He threw a few pitches off the mound, "just to make sure everything was there."

Luck is not something that has been on Santana's side lately. When he takes the mound Wednesday against the Padres, he'll bring a 15-inning scoreless streak that spans his last two starts. Yet the Mets lost both games because his teammates scored a grand total of one run.

It would be understandable if this lack of run support frustrated Santana, especially considering he has a 0.74 ERA in his last five starts, with only one win to show for it. But the ace insisted the Mets' startling inability to score for him isn't on his mind.

"It just happens," Santana said. "It's part of the game. There isn't much I can do. I focus on pitching, make sure I protect the lead or keep the score low, and that's about it. At some point it will start turning around and we'll score more runs."

These things typically even out over a season, but that doesn't make it any easier to explain while it's happening. The Mets have scored only 10 runs for Santana in his last five starts and on the season are averaging 3.33 runs for him. When someone else pitches, they're averaging 4.76.

"Part of the reason for that, I think, is that number ones usually face number ones," manager Jerry Manuel said. "He's gotten [the Marlins'] Josh Johnson a couple of times. He's gotten a couple of the top pitchers."

That theory is true for the first month or two, but by now most teams have had enough days off and rainouts that have messed with their rotations.

Yet Manuel recalled the same thing happening with Santana the previous two seasons, "but once the All-Star break came around things changed, the matchups changed for him and we began to score runs for him. Hopefully, that happens for him."

Santana might be the most respected and well-liked player in the Mets' clubhouse. He's the practical joker, the guy who feels a responsibility to keep things loose.

This week he started a World Cup pool, going around the clubhouse urging every teammate to join. They blindly chose teams - Santana picked Italy - and he worked with a clubhouse attendant to order mini decals of all the country flags to be placed on each guy's locker.

A huge soccer fan, Santana said the reason he's running this pool is because "it's something to talk about" in the clubhouse. Sure beats talking about how his teammates don't score for him.

"As long as we win, that's all that matters," he said. "At some point, everything will turn around. I've just got to keep doing my job and give the team a chance to win. That's how I do my thing."