MLB teamJohan Santana took in six innings at Shea Stadium on Saturday night before heading home. He flipped on the TV and proceeded to watch the MLB team Mets' bullpen doggedly battle St. Louis into the 14th before finally succumbing.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner woke up Sunday knowing exactly what he needed to do.

Santana effortlessly tossed his seventh complete game, getting two-run homers from Fernando Tatis and Ramon Castro as New York pounded Kyle Lohse and the MLB team Cardinals 9-1 to wrap up another successful homestand.

"We needed that big," MLB team Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "He was very adamant about going back out. He really wanted the complete game."

Santana (9-7) allowed six hits and a walk in winning for just the second time since June 1, a maddening stretch during which he was tagged with four losses and four no-decisions. He was pulled after eight innings Tuesday against MLB team Philadelphia, and the bullpen blew a three-run lead in the loss.

Didn't happen this time.

It was Santana's first complete game since a shutout of the MLB team Mets on June 19, 2007, when he was with the Twins. He also had two hits, drove in his first run of the year and scored another.