In First Start Since No-Hitter, Mets" Santana Is Pounded by Yankees Robinson Cano homered in the second inning and followed with another in the third, when the Yankees hit three home runs in a row off Johan Santana. Johan Santana was working in uncharted territory Friday when he became the first Mets pitcher to make a start after throwing a no-hitter. He was the toast of baseball for a week after humbling the St. Louis Cardinals on June 1, but he required 134 pitches to do it. Santana had shoulder surgery two years ago, so Manager Terry Collins decided to give him an extra two days of rest before facing the Yankees. "That's exactly what we did," Collins said. We erred on the side of caution and it cost us the game. After the best performance of his life, Santana had one of his worst. He matched his career high by surrendering four home runs, two of them by Robinson Cano, and made his own personal history by giving up three consecutive home runs as the Yankees pounded the Mets, 9-1, in front of 48,566 on a perfect spring evening at the Stadium. Any chance Santana might have had to become only the second pitcher, along with Johnny Vander Meer in 1938, to pitch consecutive no-hitters ended in the second inning when Cano hit the first of his two long home runs. And yet, for five and two-thirds innings there was hope of a no-hitter. Yankee starter Hiroki Kurodo, with his best outing since joining the team, did not allow a hit until Omar Quintanilla's double with two outs in the sixth. Kuroda also had faced the minimum number of hitters, 17, before Quintanilla spoiled what would have been a most unexpected outcome of the season's first game between the interborough rivals. He threw seven immaculate innings in all, allowing only the one hit and one walk while striking out seven. He threw 91 pitches, the last of which was lined off his left foot by Daniel Murphy to end the seventh. Kuroda limped off the field and was escorted into the tunnel by the trainer, Steve Donohue. X-rays were negative, the Yankees said, and he was told he had a contusion of his left foot, but it was unclear whether he would be able to make his next start. "I think I will be O.K.," he said. I could have kept pitching, but I wanted to make sure I am O.K. for my next start. Kuroda did not allow a base runner until there were two outs in the fourth inning and Josh Thole reached on an error by Derek Jeter. But Kuroda, using a nasty sinker all night in combination with a live fastball and a biting slider, shattered David Wright's bat and the bouncing ball was converted into a double play by Alex Rodriguez. While all eyes were fixed on Santana and how he would react following his historic night, Kuroda looked so dominant that another no-hitter seemed rather possible, even if he still had a long way to go. "Especially with what Santana did last week you kind of thought, maybe this is going to happen here," Joe Girardi said. We've seen a lot of special things happen at Yankee Stadium; maybe it will happen, who knows? Unfortunately it didn't, but he still pitched a great game. Only one man had ever pitched two consecutive no-hitters, but according to the Elias Sports Bureau, no team had ever been no-hit in the first game pitched by their own pitcher after he threw a no-hitter. But Quintanilla, the latest in a string of shortstops the Mets have called upon this season, ended Kuroda's no-hit bid with a looping double that fell between Ibanez and center fielder Curtis Granderson. "I was playing him a little toward the line," Ibanez said. I thought about trying to make the super dive and trying to reach it. It's a helpless feeling. Santana was anything but electrifying as he was last Friday when he shut down the Cardinals in the Mets" 8,020th game. Too many of his pitches were up in the strike zone, especially in the third when Cano, Nick Swisher and Andruw Jones hit the three straight homers. Coincidentally, it was the same trio in the same order who last accomplished that feat for the Yankees on Aug. 28 last season in Baltimore. Santana's changeup was awry from the start, rusty from the extra rest, Collins said, and the Yankees made him pay dearly. Afterward, Santana would not blame his manager, but conceded he was out of sorts. "We're in this together," he said. This is not just me or him or just one guy. We win or lose together. Collins said that Santana turned down the option of pitching Thursday on five days rest because that would have interfered with R. A. Dickey's schedule and Santana did not want to do that. The result was a disappointing night for Santana, but a surprisingly good one for Kuroda.