Star lefty Johan Santana finally made his return to a Major League mound on Tuesday afternoon for the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie, Florida, throwing two scoreless innings in Grapefruit League action against the reigning champs, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Sure, it wasn’t a game that bore any real significance, but after missing all of the 2011 season with a shoulder capsule injury that initially sidelined him at the end of the 2010 campaign, Santana’s return to the field was pure beauty to the organization and its dedicated fans. September 2, 2010 in Atlanta against the Braves – that was the last time that Santana had even faced a big league ball club.

“Finally I had an opportunity to go out there and finally get the first one out of the way,” said Santana. “… I was excited about today. Even as I was preparing myself prior to the game, I was anxious to go out there and do it. But at the same time, it was all about how I feel.

“I know it is a game situation and you have to do your job out there, but I was just focused on making sure I do the mechanics the right way and feeling good and not feeling anything in my arm. And that’s how I felt today. I felt good.”

Santana threw 29 pitches in his two innings of work. He appeared shaky at the outset, walking the leadoff hitter on just 5 pitches, but settled down and hit the strike zone on 16 of his final 24 pitches.

Not trying to be too cute coming back from a serious shoulder injury, 12 of Santana’s 13 first inning pitches were fastballs. His velocity was closely monitored and will continue to be throughout the season. He was consistently in the high 80’s and topped out at 90 on one early pitch.

Secondary pitches began to be incorporated in the second inning, one of which being his devastating changeup – the main putaway pitch that has turned him into a two time Cy Young Award winner and one of the game’s elite pitchers for the last several years. Santana had no strikeouts in the outing, but allowed no runs on just one hit and one walk.

“It was fun,” said Mets catcher Josh Thole, who was behind the plate. “I think it should be encouraging for the whole team. He went out there and it was kind of like he just left off where he was.”

Santana will once again be the ace of the staff. The four starters behind him will likely be R.A. Dickey, Jonathan Niese, Mike Pelfrey, and Dillon Gee.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/

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Baseball never disappoints. It came down to game 162, the final regular season game, to see who would be the last two wildcard teams in each of the American and National League. The Atlanta Braves were tied with the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League while the Boston Red Sox were tied with the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League.

In the event of a tie the teams would play game 163, a one game playoff, with the right to go to the postseason. The Braves lead the Cardinals by 8 ½ games with three weeks to play. The Cardinals played the Astros in Houston and the Braves would play the NL East Champion Phillies.

The Cardinals got it done early as they scored five runs in the top of the first inning. That was more than enough for their starting pitcher Chris Carpenter. After an up and down season for Carpenter, he was at his best when his team needed him most. He threw a complete game shut-out as the Cardinals won an easy 8-0.

The Braves had their best pitcher on the mound in Tim Hudson to start the game. He fought hard and came out of the game with his team leading with the score 3-2. Rookie closer Craig Kimbrel loaded the bases with Phillies in the top of the 9^th. With one out, Chase Utley hit a sac fly to drive in the tying run.

They would go to the 13^th inning where the Phillies Hunter Pence had a broken-bat RBI single to give them the lead. The weakness of the Braves showed as they could not buy a run. Rookie Freddie Freeman grounded into a double-play to end both the game and the Braves’ season.

Cardinals go on to play the Phillies in Philadelphia. The other two NL playoff teams, the Diamondbacks and Brewers, kick-off their postseason matchup in Milwaukee. The Boston Red Sox (who were favored by many to make it to the World Series!) lead the Tampa Bay Rays by 9 games at the start of September.

The Rays would play the AL East Champs, the New York Yankees. Boston would play the lowly but gritty Orioles to extend their season. The Red Sox and Orioles played a close game throughout. Boston was one out away from putting the Orioles away. Manager Buck Showalter’s team showed heart and played as if it was their World Series.

With two out and nobody on they rallied with back-to-back doubles off closer Jonathan Papelbon to tie the game 3-3. The next batter Robert Andino would drop a single in front of Carl Crawford for a walk-off to win the game. The Rays put themselves in an early hole by going down 7-0 with David Price on the mound.

Tampa would put together one of the most improbable comebacks. With only six out left in their season and still down 7-0 they would load the bases with nobody out. After a walk, hit batter, an out, and a sac fly out the Rays cut the lead to 7-3. Two outs and two on the Rays Evan Longoria bombs a homerun and cuts the deficit to one.

In the bottom of the ninth the Rays were down to their final strike and pinch-hitter Dan Johnson at the plate. He hit a game-tying homerun to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Rays were one out into the 12^th inning and Evan Longoria again at the plate. Just three minutes after it was declared that the Red Sox had lost, Longoria hit his second homer of the game to send Tampa to the postseason to play the defending AL Champion Rangers.

The Detroit Tigers visit the Yankees for their postseason matchup. Wednesday, September 28^th saw two of the greatest collapses in baseball history. The Braves were 9-18 in September while the Cardinals finished 23-8 in their final 31 games. Boston went 7-20 and the Rays were 17-10 in September.

The 8 ½ lead by the Braves and the 9 game lead by the Red Sox were the largest September collapses in Major League history. Baseball, there is nothing like it.
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