BALTIMORE (AP) -New York Mets left-hander Johan Santana insists his left knee isn’t hurt and said location was the only problem he experienced while surrendering a career-high nine runs in a 15-0 loss to the New York Yankees on Sunday.
Before Tuesday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles, Santana reacted with surprise to comments from former pitching coach Rick Peterson, who told a New York radio station that he’d heard a rumor that Santana was dealing with a bum left knee.
“How does he know my knee hurts? That’s the question that I have. Tell me, how did he find that out? It is crazy,” Santana said. “Not even the trainers know. Not even me. I didn’t know my knee hurts, just put it that way.”
Santana admitted that he was troubled a month ago by a blister and split fingernail on his left middle finger that briefly made him alter the grip on his fastball, but those injuries have healed.
His attention is directed toward a bullpen session Wednesday.
etter. That’s what I have to focus on. The last couple of games, we’re missing the location of the pitches,” he said.
Getting yanked in the middle of a lopsided game at Yankee Stadium, however, is a memory Santana would prefer not to repeat anytime soon.
“Last game was just a terrible game. I didn’t execute it the way I was supposed to execute it. … This is one game, we’ll learn from it. We’ll put it in the past and move on.” Santana said.
Mets manager Jerry Manuel doesn’t believe there will be any lingering effects.
“I think Johan is just like anybody else – going through a little period of struggle,” Manuel said. “He’ll get through it, just like he’s always done. That’s a part of the game that happens to everybody at some point in time, and he’ll overcome it.”
Add A Comment