Twins: In a home run derby, Santana falters at gate

The ace lefty gave up four homers for the first time in his career, including a pair in the first inning. The Twins had three of their own.

By La Velle E. Neal III, Star Tribune

Last update: July 24, 2007 - 8:30 PM

TORONTO Normally, you can look at the schedule and figure out when Johan Santana is at his dominating best.

It's now. It's after the All-Star break. And that means Santana is at the height of his powers. So opposing hitters should cower in his presence and be glad they have teammates to commiserate with after striking out.

Not Toronto. Not Frank Thomas. Especially not Reed Johnson.

And it didn't matter how bad the Twins needed Monday's game. Johnson reminded everyone that he is the best hitter in the league against Santana, and Thomas continued his steps toward history as the Blue Jays outpowered the Twins 6-4 at Rogers Centre.

Santana, who fell to 11-8, gave up six earned runs over five innings on seven hits, two walks and four strikeouts.

"We are trying to win as many games as we can," Santana said. "I was trying to do my job and tried to make some adjustments and it did not work out."

Santana sounded humble as the words tumbled from his mouth and as the bad numbers piled up against him.

He gave up four homers in a game for the first time in his career. His eight losses are a career high. He "dropped" to 41-6 after the All-Star break since 2003, but it's the first time he has lost back-to-back starts during that stretch.

"He never really got into a groove," manager Ron Gardenhire said.

The loss dropped the Twins nine games behind Detroit in the AL Central. They remained seven behind Cleveland for the wild card.

Justin Morneau hit his first two homers ever on Canadian soil and Torii Hunter added a solo blast, but the Twins couldn't bail out Santana. They ran the bases poorly in the fifth: Jason Tyner and Nick Punto were thrown out on the same play, ruining a first-and-third, no-out situation with the Twins trailing 4-3.

Toronto gave righthander Shaun Marcum (6-4) a 3-0 lead in the first inning, when Johnson hit Santana's second pitch over the left field fence. Johnson is batting .526 in his career against Santana, the best for any player with at least 15 at-bats against him. Thomas followed with a two-run shot later in the inning.

Morneau hit a solo shot in the second, but Alex Rios homered in the third, making it 4-1 Toronto.

"Those guys were aggressive," said Santana, who hadn't faced Toronto since Opening Day in 2006 and tried to figure out their approaches. "They were swinging right away. It seemed like the ball was flying today for both teams."

Morneau's two-run homer in the fourth made it 4-3, but Thomas batted in the fifth with a runner on third, first base open and Aaron Hill on deck. The plan was to pitch to Thomas carefully and walk him if necessary. Santana's 1-1 pitch was supposed to be up and away, but it stayed over the middle of the plate -- the story of his night.

Thomas extended his arms and hit the 503rd homer of his career, putting him one shy of Eddie Murray for 20th all-time.

It also was his 52nd against the Twins, tying him with Rocky Colavito for the most ever against the Twins-Senators franchise.

"I've been able to focus and play my best because of the days of Kirby Puckett and all those guys -- they make you play better," Thomas said. "They make you great. I've always played my best against them because of that."

La Velle E. Neal III • lneal@startribune.com

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