Johan Santana had his most successful start of 2007 and threw his first shutout since 2005 (and only 4th in his career) on Tuesday night against the Mets. The 9-0 victory was a nice turnaround from Monday night's 8-1 loss.

The shutout came in the most unlikely fashion. Typically a strikeout pitcher, it took until the first out of the ninth inning for Johan to record a strikeout. He ended with just that one. The last time Santana recorded just 1 strikeout in a game was in his season debut on April 6th, 2004, a start that lasted just 4 innings.

I'm not so sure Santana was particularly more sharp than in previous starts; he just threw more balls across the plate early in the count. The Mets, to their credit, did have a couple hard hit balls that were caught. The fact that the offense was backing Santana probably helped a bit as well.

The Twins busted the game open right away in the second with 5 runs. A pair of singles from Torii Hunter and Jeff Cirillo combined with a throwing error from Carlos Beltran scored the first run of the game and then Jason Tyner singled home Cirillo. Jason Bartlett then singled and Johan Santana, of all people, was walked on 5 pitches by Jorge Sosa. A Joe Mauer double was sandwiched between to run-scoring sacrifices to put give the Twins an early 5-0 lead.

More errors helped the Twins to 2 runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings. In total, the Mets committed 4 errors in the game.

Game Notes

• Santana allowed 4 hits and walked no batters. He needed only 92 pitches to complete the game. In addition to the walk mentioned, Johan also doubled and scored a run in the fifth inning.
• Cirillo had 3 hits in the game and in an interview after the game mentioned that playing in the field (rather than DHing) may have had a factor in his success. Is he dropping a subtle hint?
• Mauer had a two hit game and also walked once. He scored twice and drove in 1 run.
• Luis Castillo was the only hitless Twin in the lineup, but he did drive in a run and later score on a fielder's choice.
• Bert Blyleven, before the game, told Santana he would shave his head if Santana threw a shutout. So, expect a bald Bert in tomorrow's telecast.

The Twins improved to 35-34 on the season. The Phillies helped the Twins by defeating the Indians 9-6 allowing the Twins to move back to 5.5 games behind them. Detroit clobbered the Nationals by a score of 15-1. Jason Simontacchi, who defeated the Twins two weekends ago, was charged with 10 runs. Levale Speigner, who looked like an ace against the Twins, has since been demoted to the bullpen. He gave up 2 runs in 2 innings.

Scott Baker desperately needs to get back on track on Wednesday night. He's had a string of rough starts and his job may be on the line. He'll face off against Oliver Perez (7-5, 2.93 ERA).