NL roundup: Brewers blanked by Mets' Santana

NEW YORK — Johan Santana looked perfectly at home in a ballpark built with him in mind.

He looked downright indignant when asked whether he planned to give up any runs this season.

"No," the two-time Cy Young Award winner replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Santana breezed effortlessly through seven innings in his first start at Citi Field, and the New York Mets took advantage of a key error to scratch out the only run they needed in a 1-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.

A hard-luck loser so often his first season-plus in New York, Santana (2-1) allowed five hits and struck out seven without issuing a walk. He never allowed a Brewers baserunner past first.

Santana was coming off a sharp performance against the Florida Marlins in which both runs were unearned in a 2-1 loss. He's allowed only one earned run in his first 19 2/3 innings, and hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in a start since last July 17.

All those stellar outings haven't always led to wins, though. This was the fourth straight game that the Mets failed to score more than two runs for him.

"Even though we're not scoring that many runs, we're playing good baseball," Santana said. "We're taking advantage of the mistakes that they make and that was the difference."

J.J. Putz set the Brewers down in order in the eighth, and new closer Francisco Rodriguez worked around a leadoff single to Ryan Braun for his third save of the season.

MARLINS 9, NATIONALS 6 (11 INNINGS): At Washington, Jeremy Hermida hit a three-run homer in the 11th inning after tying it with a two-run shot in the ninth, and Florida beat the Nationals for their sixth straight win. Hermida, whose two-run homer tied it at 6 with two outs in the ninth, hit a 1-2 pitch from Wil Ledezma into the right-center field stands for the lead. Kiko Calero (1-0), Florida's fifth pitcher, worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win.

Ross Gload led off the 11th with a walk off Julian Tavarez (0-1). Ledezma relieved after Wes Helms reached on an error.

PIRATES 10, BRAVES 0: At Pittsburgh, Craig Monroe hit a pair of three-run homers and Ian Snell allowed four hits in seven-plus innings, lifting the Pirates to their second consecutive shutout of the Braves. Monroe homered off Atlanta starter Jo-Jo Reyes (0-1) with two outs in the sixth inning and off reliever Buddy Carlyle with two outs in the seventh.