The Good Phight: Phils Shred Santana En Route Back To First Place

This Spring, Johan Santana was asked who the best pitcher in the East was and he responded by saying himself. A day after Philly’s Ray Halladay shut out the Mets and ended their winning streak, Santana went out and stunk up the joint with the worst performance of his career in the Phillies’ 11-5 win.

The first four hitters in the Phils lineup all homered on the evening, every starter had at least one hit, and all but one (Werth) crossed the plate.

Before the fourth, Santana wasn’t exactly pitching at Halladay’s level but seemed on track to earn a win. New York jumped out to a 3-0 first-inning lead when David Wright connected on a full-count two out pitch for a three run homer off Jamie Moyer. Placido Polanco and Ryan Howard got the Phils within 3-2 with solo homers in the bottom of the first, but the Mets stretched the lead back to three when Rod Barajas, continuing his inexplicable reign of terror against the team for which he performed so badly in 2007, slugged a two-run shot off Moyer in the top of the fourth.