NOT OFF THE HOOK

I'm glad Johan Santana pitched a complete game Sunday.

I'm glad he showed that he could stretch it out, throwing 118 pitches.

And, yes, it came at a time when the Mets needed it - the bullpen was worked to the max in Saturday night's 14-inning game, and the Mets get right back to work Monday in Florida.

But it's not the same as his last two complete game opportunities.

Santana showed us on Sunday that he's capable of going 9 innings, and throwing more than 100 pitches.

The Mets (and Mets fans) now need him to be able to do that in games where the score is not 9-1 and there's more on the line.