For seven innings, the Johan Santana/Cole Hamels showdown was the duel that everyone expected it to be. Heading into the top of the 8th, the Mets held a 2-1 lead over the Phils, but from there Hamels failed to keep up his end of the duel. He loaded the bases on a pair of hits and a walk, forcing the Phillies to turn to their bullpen, which was unable to hold down the Mets who scored 3 runs to stretch their lead to 5-1. Fortunately, the Phillies battled back as they finally got to Santana, getting a pair of hits in the bottom of the 8th that drove him out of the game. Greg Dobbs then stepped in and smashed a 3-run home run, but the Phils rally ended there. They ended up losing the game 6-4.
Santana was as good as advertised in this game, rapidly mowing down Phillie batters. He finished with 10 strikeouts in his 7 innings of work and only gave up 4 hits. Hamels looked good but not great most of the night, giving up 8 hits and striking out only 4 batters. David Wright had his number...
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