While the Mets lineup didn’t score 10 runs a game against a Phillies’ pitching trio that was at least two-thirds questionable, the team’s starting pitching carried the team to a series win.

Johan Santana pitched one of his best games as a Met on Tuesday, going eight strong innings and gave up only two earned runs. There was a ton of controversy over whether he should have pitched in the ninth inning, and he probably should have. While he has only six complete games in his career (including one at Shea Stadium against the Mets in 2007), he only threw 105 pitches. He had a comfortable three-run lead at the time, and he should have at least gotten the shot to begin the inning.

Chances are, Jerry Manuel was turned off because Santana didn’t complete his last few innings in a squeaky clean manner, giving up a solo home run in the 7th and a stand-up double in the eighth. Even so, as has been discussed to death, the Mets bullpen should have gotten the job done. What Tuesday ended up was a heart-wrenching loss that he could have easily crushed the resolve of the Mets for this series right there. But it didn’t.

John Maine, the “main” question mark among this series’ starters, went seven strong innings, his longest outing since May 7. He battled and produced that “quality start” in his vintage manner, hopefully getting right against a team he’s historically been good against.

But the real star turned out to be Oliver Perez on Thursday, who pitched about as well as I’ve ever seen him pitch. He was absolutely dominant, striking out twelve and only allowing one run through seven and two-thirds innings. When Eric Bruntlett becomes the offensive standout for the Phillies, the starting pitcher is most likely doing something right against this lineup. The only infuriating thing about the game was that Perez had Ryan Howard, a man with a batting average below .100 against Perez, dead to rights. Howard took two ugly swings to start the count 0-2 and then coaxed a walk to pull Perez from the game.

SNY’s Gary Cohen mentioned on Thursday’s telecast that this was the first time the Mets starters had pitched at least seven innings in four consecutive games since 2005. Doesn’t that stat sound similar to the stats rang off during the Mets winning streak during their last homestand? Maybe getting out of Great American Ballpark was just the ticket after all.

Ryan Howard and the Philadelphia Phillies are far apart in their arbitration talks. The Phillies offered Howard $7 million while Howard is seeking $10, the biggest gap among the 48 players who exchanged proposals with their teams.

Aaron Heilman avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year $1.2-million contract.

Pedro Feliciano, Ryan Church, Endy Chavez, Oliver Perez and Jorge Sosa have exchanged offers with the Mets and have filed for arbitration.

Notable players who did reach an agreement with their teams are Matt Holiday, Miguel Cabrera, Justin Morneau, Carlos Pena, and Scott Kazmir. Holiday was the only player to strike a multi-year deal, $23 million over two years.