Six straight! The Mets defeated the Pirates by a score of 4-0 this afternoon in Pittsburgh. Johan Santana got the win, his 11th. Jeff Karstens took the loss for the Bucs. With the win, the Mets are now 2.5 games ahead of the Phillies and 4.5 ahead of the Marlins in the NL East.

Santana was in total control, as he threw a complete game shutout. He struck out seven Pirate batters and limited them to three hits.

Most of the offense was courtesy of Brian Schneider today. Schneider had 3 RBI, including a two run shot, his second on the roadtrip. He also had an RBI single to drive in Carlos Beltran.

Speaking of Beltran, after just missing a homer in his second at bat, Beltran crushed a Karstens pitch over the wall in rightfield for his 17th homer of the year.

After the game, while being interviewed by SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt, Santana got high fives from all the RPs, started by Scott Schoeneweis. It’s nice to see this team gelling together and uniting at the right time.

The Mets go for the sweep tomorrow with John Maine on the mound. He will be opposed by Paul Maholm.