With the Mets' situation dire, Johan Santana volunteered to pitch on short rest on Saturday for the Mets against Florida. Interim manager Jerry Manuel had no choice but to accept the ace's offer, now that the Mets' tragic number is down to two in the wild-card race with two games remaining in the season.
The Mets dropped out of a first-place tie in the wild-card standings with Milwaukee thanks to a 6-1 loss to the Marlins on Friday night at soggy Shea Stadium. If the Mets can stave off elimination with Santana on the mound on Saturday, Oliver Perez will get the call on short rest on Sunday in the regular-season finale.
"I just told Jerry, 'Whatever we have to do. If you want me on three days, I'll be fine with that,'" said Santana, who limited the Cubs to two runs in eight innings in a win on Tuesday. "It's all about winning."
Santana pitched on short rest once in the postseason. On Oct. 9, 2004, with Minnesota facing elimination, Santana limited the Yankees to one run on five hits in five innings in an 87-pitch effort in a division series.
"I was fine, because when you're in that kind of atmosphere it doesn't really matter," Santana said. "All the adrenaline is there and everything is going. You don't really think about pitches or anything. It's just about winning. That's what I experienced. We are kind of in the same situation right now."
MARLINS 6, METS 1: For a second straight season, Florida is succeeding at knocking the Mets out of postseason contention during the regular season's final weekend. Mike Pelfrey allowed three runs in six innings Friday and the Mets mustered just one run in six innings against Chris Volstad as they dropped a game behind the Brewers in the wild-card standings.
