Mets' Santana aces Opening test

Mets' Santana aces Opening test

Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News

Johan Santana receives warm welcome from fans after he works out of jam in fifth inning without giving up a run. 

Johan Santanas moment of truth came in the fifth inning. His feel-good comeback start was suddenly in danger of ending ugly, as he walked hitters back-to-back, including the opposing pitcher, to load the bases with two outs, and then fell behind Michael Bourn 3-and-1.

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Santana was over 80 pitches, which was about as far as the Mets were going to push his surgically-repaired shoulder on Opening Day. In a scoreless game at the time, it looked as if the Mets ace had lost his command and run out of gas.

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Yet Terry Collins would swear after the game that he knew Santana would make a pitch. Though hed never managed him in a game until Thursday, hed learned enough about Santana simply watching him rehab and will himself to this Opening Day start to trust him when it counted most.

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Hes by far the greatest competitor Ive ever been around, Collins said, and surely by now, having observed the feisty nature of the Mets manager for mor e than a year, you know there is no greater compliment he can pay a player.

Then there was catcher Josh Thole. As a minor-league call-up in 2010 he barely caught Santana before the September shoulder injury, but he too has been inspired by the lefthanders resolve while catching him throughout the spring.

He just has an effect on the whole team, said Thole. I knew during spring training that he was going to make this start today, and when he got in trouble I knew hed get out of it. We both knew what he had to do.

Thole signaled for a fastball away and set up toward the corner. Santana nodded. He wasnt going to throw a cookie down the middle and simply hope for the best.

In that situation, said Thole, I knew he wouldnt give in.

Sure enough, Santana threw an 87-mph fastball in a near-perfect spot, around the knees on the outside corner for a called strike and a 3-2 count. He followed that with an 88-mph fastball that caught more of the pl ate, but again was down around the knees, and Bourn chopped it into the ground, a comebacker that Santana handled to escape the jam and end his day.

It was only five innings, and on another day the newly-constructed bullpen would have been at least as much the story, delivering four scoreless innings as the Mets scratched out a run in the sixth to beat the Braves 1-0.

On this day, however, Santanas five innings represented so much more for the Mets. Mostly they offered a hope for the 2012 season that seemed unrealistic when spring training opened, considering the difficulty that other pitchers have had coming back from shoulder capsule surgery.