Santana's old team happy to see him as Twins beat Mets

Facing the Minnesota Twins for the first time, Johan Santana didn't offer them any reason to regret trading him three years ago.

All he did was give his current team more reasons to worry.

The Mets' ace hasn't pitched like one lately, a downward trend that continued in a 6-0 loss to the Twins Saturday at Citi Field. He put his team in a 4-0 hole after a 41-pitch first inning, and that proved to be more than enough support for Carl Pavano, who breezed through a three-hitter. It was his second straight complete game; he beat Roy Halladay and the Phillies last Sunday.

Struggling is something that's new to Santana (5-5, 3.55 ERA), a two-time Cy Young winner from his days with the Twins. He allowed five runs in six innings Saturday and has given up at least four runs in four consecutive starts for only the second time in his career. The last time was in 2004. In his last four starts, Santana has allowed 17 earned runs in 252/3 innings.

Catcher Rod Barajas didn't want to use the word "frustrated" to describe Santana's mood. He preffered "angry."

Santana's tough start capped a rough week personally. Allegations of sexual assault made last fall by a Florida woman were made public earlier this week, six months after authorities decided there was not enough evidence to pursue charges. Santana insisted that wasn't on his mind, saying he was able to "focus on baseball."

His former team certainly didn't give him any chance to settle in. They roughed him up for four hits, including three doubles, and a walk in the first.

Orlando Hudson hit a one-out double off the bottom of the wall in left-centerfield and scored on Joe Mauer's single. After Justin Morneau flied out, Santana got ahead of Jason Kubel with two called strikes but couldn't finish him off. Kubel laid off a changeup in the dirt and fouled off two pitches before lining a fastball to left for a ground-rule double and a 2-0 lead. "The Kubel at-bat was the one that changed everything," Santana said.

With runners on second and third, Delmon Young capped the inning with a two-run double of his own.

The four runs were more than enough for Pavano, who allowed four baserunners, only one of whom reached second base. But the Mets' lack of offense took a backseat to Santana's struggles, especially considering how they came in his first game against his old team.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said it was weird for him, even though three years have passed. "It's hard, it's really hard," he said, "because you look out at him and you know how much he meant to us and still does . . . But we are on a mission. And that was to beat him today and figure out how to do it."

Santana settled down after the first, allowing one run in the next five innings. Barajas, Santana and Jerry Manuel all believe he was caught in a predictable pattern of fastball-changeup, something that the Twins might have had an easier time figuring out because of their history with him.

Santana and Barajas met in the dugout after the first inning and decided to feature his slider more. That's an adjustment Santana vowed to take with him going forward.

"There are times where you get into the same patterns, fastball-change, fastball-change, and I've got my slider," he said. "That's something I have to use more."