Santana breaks out of mini-slump

Johan Santana entered Tuesday's play with a 9.00 ERA over his last two starts, which under normal circumstances would not necessarily be cause for concern. It was just two starts.

But Santana's poor outings came directly on the heels of his June 1 no-hitter, in which he threw a career-high 134 pitches against the Cardinals. Again, not necessarily cause for concern for a normal pitcher, but Santana is still less than two years removed from major shoulder surgery. The Mets have been careful to monitor his pitch counts all year.

So the team heaved a collective sigh of relief when Santana fired six shutout innings in the Mets' 5-0 victory Tuesday over the Orioles. Crisis averted.

"I was just waiting for this," Santana said. "I knew I was coming into this game on regular rest and I felt good. I also knew that we still have a ways to go in putting things together, but I think overall I felt good and we were able to win the game."

Santana's start also allowed the Mets to consider what their rotation might look like with R.A. Dickey and Santana both pitching well. Dickey has ranked among the game's most successful pitchers over the last month, breaking records on a weekly basis. A healthy and productive Santana would give the Mets quite a 1-2 punch.

"We haven't had any huge losing streaks because of those guys," manager Terry Collins said. "If we're going to compete, which we plan on doing for the rest of this hot summer, we're going to need all five of our guys getting going together."