"Hours before the game tonight, general manager Sandy Alderson held court outside the Mets ' clubhouse like a doctor on rounds. He was there to give the latest prognosis on pitcher Johan Santana and first baseman Ike Davis, though it wasn't anything positive.

Santana had a setback earlier in the week, suffering fatigue in his left pitching shoulder. Alderson declared that it would push the schedule for the left-hander back several days, with the timetable for his earliest return now set to the middle of September.

Santana's rehabilitation from surgery repairing the anterior capsule in his left shoulder hit a snag as a result of overzealousness. After his start on July 28, when he pitched three innings for the Mets' single-A affiliate in St. Lucie, he followed his normal regular-season routine of throwing long-toss the day after. Two days later he threw a bullpen session. It was too much, as doctors wanted to see how Santana would recover after a start.

The left-hander was in Queens and will be for the remainder of the homestand, performing strengthening exercises, but will not throw again until Monday or Tuesday at the earliest."