Mets shutout over the Pittsburgh Pirates. On September 23, Santana threw 125 pitches, a career-high to that point, in eight innings to beat the Chicago Cubs. On September 27, in the thick of a playoff race and on the final weekend of the season, Santana pitched a complete three-hit gem in a 2–0 win against the Florida Marlins on three days' rest. It was later revealed that Santana had pitched that day, and perhaps in many other starts, with a torn meniscus in his left knee, for which he underwent successful surgery on October 1, 2008. Santana finished the 2008 regular season with a 16–7 record, posting a 2.53 ERA with 206 strikeouts, which set a Mets' single-season record for strikeouts by a left-handed pitcher, breaking Jon Matlack's 35-year record of 205 in . His 2.53 ERA led the majors and was a career-best. He also set a career-high in innings pitched and was undefeated in the second half of the season. However, he was also the victim of seven blown saves, tying for first in the majors. Santana finished in third place in the NL Cy Young Award race behind Brandon Webb and winner Tim Lincecum. 2009 season On April 7, 2009, Johan Santana started the first game for the New York Mets in the 2009 season against the Cincinnati Reds. He went 5.2 innings allowing only one earned run, going on to win. In his second start on April 12, Santana struck out 13 batters and surrendered two unearned runs over seven innings against the Florida Marlins only to lose for the first time since June 28, 2008, against the New York Yankees. On August 25 Santana was placed on the 15-day disabled list and missed the remainder of the season after having to undergo season-ending arthroscopic surgery to remove bone chips in his left elbow. Santana finished the season at a record of 13–9 with a 3.13 ERA. In 2009, he was ranked number 3 on the Sporting News list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball, behind Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez. A panel of 100 baseball people, many of them members of the Baseball Hall of Fame and winners of major baseball awards, was polled to arrive at the list. 2010 season In a start on May 2, 2010, against Philadelphia, Santana gave up 10 runs in 3 innings, the worst start in his