Time has not been kind to the arm of pitcher Johan Santana. During his time in Minnesota, he was, without question, baseball’s best pitcher. Electric fastball, great slider, and a devastating changeup.

When Santana came to New York, via trade, before the 2008 season, his numbers changed. Strikeouts decreased. Walks increased. His superficial numbers (Wins, ERA) held steady. But a pitcher who was once worth about 6.5 wins per season now became worth about 3.5. 

Santana missed the entire 2011 season following major shoulder surgery. Those are three words that pitchers never want to see. Especially dominant pitchers. Johan Santana would need a reinvention.

The Johan Santana of this season seems very different. “Junky” would be an accurate way to describe his stuff. His fastball is slower, his slider is less severe, and his changeup, while still effective, is made less effective by the fastball he’s throwing. Previously, Santana could beat hitters with pure power. Now, he’s been forced to beat them with location. To be, Maddux-esque.

Friday night, Johan Santana threw the first no-hitter in the history of the New York Mets franchise. 50 years. Dwight Gooden, Pedro Martinez, Tom Seaver, Ron Darling. Zero no-hitters. Until Friday, when Santana held the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals to zero hits.  He did it with the same stuff that he’s had all season. He’s still striking even fewer hitters out and walking more guys (5 on Friday). He’s pitching to contact, but keeping the ball in the park (0.7 HR/9). In short, he’s effective. Consider Friday night the welcome back party for Johan. Oh, and the Mets are tied for first place in the NL East.

Late last week, it looked as though we were on our way to a San Antonio/Miami NBA Final. Truth be told, we still may well be. But it’s clear that the Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics will have something to say about that.

Oklahoma City used a once-in-a-season shooting performance from their big men on Saturday to pull even with the Spurs heading into tonight’s pivotal Game 5. Oh, and that guy Kevin Durant scored 18 consecutive points in the 4^th quarter.

In the East, the Celtics ran out to sizable leads on Friday and Sunday night, only to see those leads shrink (or evaporate, as it did on Sunday night). Regardless, unlike in Game 2 when the Celtics couldn’t put Miami away, the Celtics did just that to even up their series at 2-2.

The headline coming out of last night’s game was that LeBron James fouled out of a game for the first time since the Taylor administration. Even with James’ absence in the waning minutes of the overtime period, Miami still had a chance to win when Dwyane Wade clanked a 3-pointer off the iron as time expired. The Celtics won 93-91. Game 5 is Tuesday.

Rest easy. We’re only 2 games away from me never writing the word “hockey” again in this space. In fact, I’d venture to guess that no one reads this section.

Regardless, the LA Kings continued their road dominance (undefeated in the NHL playoffs) on Saturday night, taking a 2-0 lead over the New Jersey Devils. It’s really just a matter of time.

Friday’s game, as predicted here, was rained out. It will be made up some time in the 2012 season. It’s apparently very hard for MLB to set these things in stone.

The Nats and Braves split their weekend series with the Nats winning Saturday. That Saturday win was spearheaded by Stephen Strasburg who was absolutely dominant in his 7 innings of work, as he struck out 9 hitters, while walking none and surrendering just 4 hits.

Sunday’s game started with a  bang. Actually, two. Steve Lombardozzi and Bryce Harper became the first rookies in the modern era (since 1900) to begin a game with back-to-back home runs. Unfortunately, that’s all the run scoring the Nats would do, as they fell to the Braves 3-2.

Washington now sits in a three-way tie for first place with the Mets and Marlins (just as we all predicted!!!). The Nats will begin a three-game series with the Mets tomorrow in DC.

NBA: Oklahoma City @ San Antonio (Series tied 2-2): 9 p.m./TNT

NHL: New Jersey @ Los Angeles (LAK leads 2-0): 8 p.m./NBC

Today is also the first round of the Rule 4 player draft in Major League Baseball (7 p.m./MLB Network). That’s better known as the “First Year Player Draft.” Expect the Minnesota Twins to draft either Mark Appel (RHP/Stanford) or Byron Buxton (OF/Appling County (GA) High School).  

The Nationals pick 16^th. Expect them to take a college pitcher. My dream would be for California high school pitcher Lucas Giolito to fall to them. Giolito is a top 3 talent who has been downgraded by scouts because of a minor shoulder injury. I firmly expect someone to take him in the top 8.