Johan Santana will be in search of his 15th win in 17 decisions at home as a Met when he takes on the Cardinals tonight in the opener of a two-game series at Citi Field.
Santana is 14-2 at Shea Stadium and Citi Field the past two seasons, and his ERA is 1.58 in those 20 starts. The ace left-hander also is unbeaten in two career decisions against St. Louis, including a 3-2 win on June 25.
Santana will square off against Cardinals sinkerballer Joel Pineiro, who already has posted a complete-game shutout against the Mets this season. Pineiro, who is 9-8 overall with a 2.84 ERA overall this season, allowed just two hits in that June 23 win at Citi Field. Here is the 50-55 Mets’ order for the 7:10 p.m. game:
Angel Pagan CF
Luis Castillo 2B
David Wright 3B
Gary Sheffield LF
Daniel Murphy 1B
Jeff Francoeur RF
Alex Cora SS
Omir Santos C
Johan Santana LHP (12-8, 2.96)
