In Santana We Trust

Tonight is the rubber game of the three-game series in Philadelphia between the Mets and the Phillies. The Mets head into the series finale holding on to a razor-thin half-game lead over the second place Phillies after Roy Halladay shut down the Mets' offense on Saturday with a complete game shutout and Mike Pelfrey came back down to Earth after his phenomenal and mostly scoreless April.

Just as Halladay did for the Phillies after his team lost to the Mets Friday night, it is now up to Johan Santana to be the stopper for the Mets. Santana must be the ace he's expected to be and pitch the Mets to victory tonight.

The Mets now have a renewed feeling of positivity following their recent eight-game winning record. A winning attitude has been permeating through the clubhouse and everyone is subscribing to it.

Therefore, it behooves Santana to follow Pelfrey's poor performance on the mound with a Santana-esque outing.

In 2008, Santana was 8-3 following a Mets loss. Last year, despite the fact that the Mets finished 22 games under .500, Santana finished with a winning record (5-4) when he pitched after a Mets defeat. Therefore, despite the fact that the Mets' record over the past two seasons has been below .500 (159-165), Santana has done his best to prevent losing streaks from getting longer, going 13-7 in his outings following a Mets loss.

Tonight will be the latest opportunity for Santana to pitch the Mets back into the win column after they made an appearance in the loss column in the previous game. That's what aces are paid to do. The Mets will need their ace to do just that if they want to remain in first place in the NL East.

Winning creates a positive attitude in the clubhouse. Roy Halladay gave the Phillies that feeling yesterday. It's time for the Mets' ace to do the same for the Mets. After all, in Santana we trust.