Jeremy Cothran, one of the best in the biz, points out Johan Santana's ridiculous stats in Yankee Stadium, where he will pitch against Darrel Rasner on Friday.
"Santana is 3-0 in the Bronx as a member of the Twins, with an ERA of 0.79 in six games."
Investigating further, Santana's first appearance at Yankee Stadium came on April 10, 2003. Santana threw only four innings in relief, allowing four hits, walking none and striking out eight batters. He allowed no runs.
The second start in the Bronx came on September 29, 2004. Santana allowed one earned run on three hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out five that day. He ended up with a no decision that day, breaking a streak of 12 straight appearances with a win, ending the season with a record of 20-6.
The third start in the House That Ruth Built on July 27, 2005, saw Santana throw seven shutout innings, scattering seven hits and two walks. Santana struck out five in the Twins win. He earned the win, his first in Yankee Stadium.
His final start in Yankee Stadium was his "worst." Santana allowed two earned runs over seven innings. He let up four hits while walking two. Again, he struck out five batters. The Twins won the game 6-2, making a winner of Santana and moving his record at Yankee Stadium to 2-0.
So, after doing some research, Santana's numbers at Yankee Stadium are actually: 2-0, 23 IP, 18 hits, 5 BB, 23 K, 1.17 ERA.
Not too shabby. Let's hope he can turn out another one of these performance and show the Yankees brass and front office what they missed out on.
Update: A fellow blogger, MetsWalkoffs, points out that I completely left out Santana's starts during the postseason.
Santana pitched in two games at Yankee Stadium during the 2003 and 2004 ALDS.
On September 30, 2003, Santana threw four innings, allowing three hits and walking two. He did not allow a run and struck out three batters.
His other appearance came on October 5, 2004, where he went seven innings and scattered nine hits. He walked only one and struck out five. Again, he did not allow a run to score. The Twins won this game, and earned Santana his third win at Yankee Stadium.
Factoring the previously left out postseason appearances, Santana's adjusted numbers at Yankee Stadium for his career: 3-0, 34 IP, 30 hits, 8 BB, 31 K, 0.79 ERA.
So Jeremy had it right to begin with. Whoops!
