OH-NO-han Applesauce: Santana's Struggles Continue In Defeat, Gee Visits Clubhouse, Quintanilla Traded

Meet the Mets

Oh, what are we going to do with Johan Santana? Outside of a couple of decent starts, the lefty has been lost over the majority of June and July and last night was no different, as he allowed six runs in three innings in an eventual 7-6 loss to the Dodgers. The contrast of the numbers before his June 1st no-hitter and after the no-no are pretty startling. Of course, let's not forget that on June 1st, Johan had similar command woes as he walked 5 on his way to 134 pitches. Even still, the lefty's been more erratic, lacking the command and life on his fastball to be successful. The Dodgers struck early for three runs in the 1st, two sent over the wall off the bat of awesome baseball guy Matt Kemp. LA grabbed one in the second on a bases loaded four pitch walk and then the wheels really fell off in the third, as he allowed a 2-run bomb to journeyman infielder Luis Cruz. After Santana was lifted, the bullpen tossed six innings and allowed just a run but the damage had already been done and the Mets' comeback fell a run shy, though Jordany Valdespin did his pinch hit home run thing again.

Choose Your Recap: MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, Bergen Record

It's Miguel Batista time everybody! The 41-year old journeyman gets the start for the Mets this afternoon, as the Mets play game two against the Dodgers at 1:10 PM. He'll face off against former Met Chris Capuano.

So what are the Mets going to do with Santana now? While both the team and the man himself say that he isn't hurt, the Mets have acknowledged that his next start could be pushed back and that a DL stint could be a possibility.

Omar Quintanilla was dealt to the Orioles for cash considerations yesterday. Presumably, he would've been lost on waivers for nothing anyway, so at least the Mets were able to choose his landing spot.

Mike Baxter's rehab moved up to Binghamton, where he DH'd and went 0-4 in a dismal 10-0 loss. Zack Wheeler threw and just didn't have it, allowing 8 runs on 6 hits over 3.2 innings. Meanwhile, Frank Francisco seems to be moving closer to a rehab stint, potentially by the end of next week.

Dillon Gee was in the Mets clubhouse for the first time since his surgery and talked about the experience, saying "I thought I was going to die". Gee cannot do anything physical and will not start throwing for at least six weeks.

Howard Megdal examined just how valuable R.A. Dickey and David Wright have been to the 2012 Mets and, as you'd probably expect, their outstanding performances have kept the team relevant on their own.

At Mets Minor League Blog.com, Toby Hyde talks about the mechanical adjustment made by Mets' pitching prospect Michael Fulmer this year. Fulmer, the Mets' 2nd pick in the 2011 draft (supplemental 1st round) has been awesome as a 19-year old in full season ball and is a name you should be hearing plenty about next offseason when prospect lists are published.

Around the NL East

While the Mets lost last night, three of the other four NL East teams also tasted defeat. The only team to win was the Braves, who came back from a 9-0 5th inning deficit to defeat the Nationals 11-10 in 11 innings. Brandon Crawford hit a grand slam off of Vance Worley (yeah, really) and the Giants defeated the Phillies 7-2. Finally, the Miami Marlins fell to the Pirates 4-3.

Around the Majors

A couple of trades were made on Friday. The Royals and Rockies swapped underwhelming starters, as the Rockies sent Jeremy Guthrie to KC in exchange for lefty Jonathan Sanchez. The other deal was a biggy, a 10-player extravaganza between the Astros and Blue Jays that saw Brandon Lyon, J.A. Happ and David Carpenter sent up north, while Francisco Cordero, Ben Francisco and the entire city of San Francisco* head to Houston.

More bad calls by umpires? More bad calls by umpires. Could we please get some instant replay, Mr. Selig? Oh right, nobody wants it. Yeah, whatever you say.

Zack Greinke confirmed that the Brewers have offered him an extension within the last few weeks, likely in the neighborhood of 5 years, $100-plus million range as reported by Jon Heyman.

Jim Thome hit his 610th home run, pushing him past Sammy Sosa for 7th on the all-time home run list.

Phillies' prospect Tyson Gillies was suspended by the team indefinitely for violating a team policy. Gillies, acquired from Seattle in exchange for Cliff Lee, was charged with felony cocaine possession two years ago, though it sounds like this has nothing to do with that.

Apparently, Michael Morse is the prankster on Davey Johnson's Nationals team. Personally, I think the hot foot is way better than baby powder.

*That may be a lie.