The Mets lost their 2nd straight game at Petco Park, scoring just one run in both losses. Johan Santana pitched effectively for 6 innings, but took the loss as he was outdone by Randy Wolf and the Padres won 2-1. Santana and Wolf matched zeros for 5 innings, as both lefties looked masterful. The Mets got the first run of the game in the 6th, but they easily could have had more. Endy Chavez (playing for the fatigued Ryan Church) led off with a double down the left field line. Johan Santana came up to bunt, and was promptly drilled in his pitching shoulder. Santana got up and seemed to be ok, but because he offered at the pitch it was nothing more than a strike. Eventually he hit a slow grounder to first, and Adrian Gonzalez made a great play, throwing out Chavez at third. But Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo hit back to back singles to load the bases with one out. David Wright then crushed one off Wolf to deep left center, but Scott Hairston made a fantastic catch at the warning track, turning a bases clearing double into a sac fly. The Mets managed just the one run despite 3 hits and a walk in the inning. It was a frustrating result to what looked like a very promising inning, but the way the game was going it seemed one run might be enough. That was not the case though, as the Padres came right back with 2 runs off Santana to take the lead. Hairston, the latest Met-killer in a long line, led off with a double. Edgar Gonzalez bunted and Santana tried to get Hairston at 3rd, but his throw was low and everyone was safe. Brian Giles then hit a grounder to second that would have easily scored a run, but Gonzalez was hit by the ball, called out, and the play was ruled dead. Amazingly it was the 2nd night in a row a Padres baserunner was called out getting hit with a batted ball. It was a big break for Santana and the Mets, but they could not capitalize on it. Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff hit back-to-back RBI singles, and San Diego had the lead for good. The Mets loaded the bases off Randy Wolf again in the 7th with 2 outs, but the slumping Castillo grounded out weakly to 2nd base. It was the 2nd straight inning the Mets left 3 runners on, and that proved to be their last chance. Trevor Hoffman worked a scoreless 9th for the save, the 537th of his career. The Mets are now back at the .500 mark, with 30 wins and 30 losses. Rizzi's Rant: Ok, we were a red hot team, and 2 quick losses to the Padres has made that seem like a distant memory. I will be at a wedding tomorrow and playing softball Sunday, so I am hoping the next time I sit down to watch a Mets game they will be coming off a split of their 4 game series in San Diego. The SNY guys kept hinting that Santana's shoulder might be bothering him, and that is why he gave up 2 runs in the 6th. I am not so sure about that. I think he just gave up a couple of runs, and they took him out after the inning for precautionary reasons. That being said, I was frightened and almost peed in my pants when Santana got hit. If he didn't get up right away I might have actually cried. Scott Hairston is officially on my list of Met killers, as he had 3 more hits tonight and made the play of the game when he robbed Wright of the extra base hit. I thought for sure DW was going to get 3 RBIs, but it just wasn't meant to be. I liked the fact that Willie Randolph went right back to Scott Schoeneweis in the 8th inning. It was good to let him turn the page, and Scotty got the out from the only batter he faced. I couldn't believe it when Edgar Gonzalez got hit with that ground ball. You rarely see that more than once in a season. and Met fans have now seen it twice in 24 hours. Oliver Perez is on the mound tomorrow needing to avoid a 3 game slide. Uh-oh...