Santana Is Way Too Smooth for the Angels

This was not a case of one of baseball’s hottest teams, a club that averaged 7.8 runs in 12 games and had 37 runs and 53 hits in its three previous games, coming out flat.

It was a case of a lethal offense being flattened by one of the game’s hottest pitchers, one who does not go by the name of Mulder or Schilling or Martinez but is a leading candidate to win the American League Cy Young Award.

Those in an Angel Stadium crowd of 42,778 who were unfamiliar with Johan Santana’s work before Saturday left with a greater appreciation for the Minnesota left-hander, who stifled the Angels in seven innings of the Twins’ 7-1 victory, limiting them to one run and four hits, all singles.

The Angels dropped two games behind the first-place Oakland Athletics in the AL West and 1 1/2 games behind the front-running Boston Red Sox in the wild-card race.

Santana, who mixes an outstanding changeup and slider with a 94-mph fastball, struck out six and walked one to improve to 15-6, lower his earned-run average to 3.06 and end the Angels’ winning streak at nine.

The 25-year-old reliever-turned-starter, who out-pitched Angel ace Bartolo Colon, is 13-2 with a 1.66 ERA in his last 16 starts, giving up 60 hits and striking out 152 in 119 1/3 innings to help the Twins open a big lead in the AL Central.

Opponents are batting .148 during the stretch. The Venezuela native leads the AL in strikeouts (213) and opponents’ batting average (.201), is second in ERA and tied for third in victories.

How dominant has he been? In his last seven starts, Santana has defeated Freddy Garcia (Chicago White Sox), Pedro Martinez (Red Sox), Tim Hudson (Athletics), Mike Mussina (New York Yankees), Kenny Rogers (Texas Rangers) and now Colon, who had won eight of his previous nine starts before giving up five runs and eight hits in six innings Saturday.

“To me, I say yes, he’s the Cy Young winner,” Angel left fielder Jose Guillen said. “You play in Minnesota, you don’t get much recognition. You play in a big market, everyone’s going to hear about you.

“It’s like Vladi [Guerrero] in Montreal. You have to make so much noise for people to be talking about you. You don’t see people recognize Santana, but this guy has great stuff. I hope we don’t have to face him again.”

Guerrero, who is batting .329 with 28 home runs and 101 runs batted in, had struck out twice in a game only 14 games this season before Saturday. Santana struck out Guerrero in his first two at-bats, setting up the slugger with fastballs and getting him out with changeups.

Guillen made contact twice against Santana, flying to right in the second and seventh innings, but the Twin ace blew a 95-mph fastball by Guillen for a third strike in the fifth.

“Every pitch he throws has the same motion,” Guillen said. “You’re thinking fastball, then it’s a changeup. You go up looking for good pitches, and it’s like he’s reading your head. ‘You’re expecting this? OK, I’ll throw you that.’ I tip my hat to him.”

Santana gave up one hit, an infield single, in five innings before giving up a run in the sixth, when Jose Molina and Adam Kennedy each singled, David Eckstein grounded into a double play and Darin Erstad lined a run-scoring single to center.

That only cut the Angel deficit to 5-1, the Twins having scored four runs in the third, a rally highlighted by Jacque Jones’ three-run home run, and another in the sixth on Cristian Guzman’s sacrifice fly.

“He’s a tough opponent, not only for us but for the whole league, and now we know why,” Guerrero said through an interpreter. “He’s the complete package.”

Added Angel Manager Mike Scioscia: “It’s not very often you see Vladi not put the ball hard in play, to not be on the things a pitcher is throwing. Santana did a great job against him early in the game. He’s having some kind of year.”

Mark Mulder (17-4), Oakland’s ace, is considered by many to be the AL Cy Young favorite, but Santana’s ERA is far lower than Mulder’s (3.72), he has nearly twice as many strikeouts (Mulder has 121), and opponents are batting .243 against Mulder.

Santana’s ERA, strikeouts and batting average by opponents also are superior to those of Martinez and Curt Schilling, the Boston right-handers.

“Take your pick, him or Mulder, they’re both very deserving,” Erstad said.