posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 11:17 PM
by
Jim
Black magic Johan
Johan Santana
made it look easy tonight, once again working deep into the game, once again getting the win, and once again racking up double-digits in strikeouts. It doesn't just seem like it's been that way against the Sox since he became a full-time starter in 2003 -- it has been that way, almost each and every time.
Looking through Baseball Musings' invaluable database, there was only one game in which the Sox truly got the best of the Twins ace -- a
17-7 shellacking on May 23, 2004. The reason the Sox haven't put up much of a fight against Santana since then is because their three big right-handed bats from that game -- Carlos Lee, Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez -- never played in the same lineup again when Santana was on the mound.
Here's what the big three righty bats have done against El Presidente over the course of their careers:
| Name |
ABs |
H |
HR |
BA |
OBP |
SLG |
| Lee |
29 |
9 |
3 |
.310 |
.375 |
.724 |
| Thomas |
13 |
5 |
1 |
.385 |
.529 |
..692 |
| Ordonez |
22 |
9 |
3 |
.409 |
.400 |
.955 |
Yet even with that outing (7 ER in 3 IP), here's the line Santana has posted against the Sox since 2003 up until tonight's game:
7-3, 2.13 ERA, 84 1/3 IP, 21 BB, 93 K
If you take that start out of the equation, it gets even worse:
7-2, 1.44 ERA, 81 1/3, 19 BB, 91 K.
Damn. And after allowing one run in seven innings, he actually lowered that ERA tonight. Here's the
complete list of starts if you want to look, but I advise you to at least shield your eyes.