Nowhere in his job description does it say he has to prove Hank Steinbrenner wrong.

Yet, there he was in the second inning of the game showing the Baby Boss that pitchers can hit when he served up a fat meatball with the bases juiced to opposing starter Felix Hernandez, which the Mariner ace deposited right in front of the old scoreboard in right. It was the first grand slam by an American League batter in over 36 years; back when gas was 35 cents a gallon and Rod Stewart top the charts with Maggie May.

But Hernandez hit one in the era of $4 fuel and all of a sudden it was 4-0 Mariners, pretty much goodbye ballgame for the Mets.

“I was very surprised that happened,” said manager Jerry Manuel. “Very surprised and then he bunted his next turn at bat.”

“I threw a fastball up in the strike zone and he put on a good swing,” said Santana. “All of a sudden, the ball went out of the park.”

Maybe it was Santana’s performances over the last two games Manuel was calling ‘fertilizer’ on Sunday. Well they sure did stink with an 0-2 record and a with a 3.47 ERA. Sure only one run was earned last night, because of David Wright’s error and he only got marked for four of the five runs last Tuesday. Manuel argued this was a good outing, because it was one earned run over seven for Santana, but this is supposedly the best pitcher in baseball, who should overlook errors in the field.

This isn’t what the Wilpons shelled out $137.5 million dollars for seven years. A Santana start hasn’t netted a win for his team since Jun. 1, five appearances ago and you have to go back to May 27 to see a W go in his column.

Heck Steve Trachsel could put up numbers like this for a fraction of the price.

The Wilpons, though, paid for an ace. They shelled out the mullah for the best pitcher in baseball, who dominated hitters in the American League. This is not the Santana we are seeing in New York.

For Manuel to have any chance of managing in 2009, he needs to figure out what wrong with his ace and fast. Although he seems to have the back of the rotation is good shape – especially with the Mike Pelfrey Experience becoming a success – his two so called aces haven’t produced a win for him. Pedro and Santana couldn’t have liked Willie that much.

Manuel and new pitching coach Dan Warthen need to sit down and find out what’s wrong. If it’s mechanical, then it’s time to take some corrective measures. If Santana is hurt – remember he was hit on his pitching shoulder back in San Diego – then shut him down and wait until he is 100 percent, because right now half a Johan is not better than no Johan at all.

If they don’t fix the problem, Santana might as well start a new profession. Here’s one: Second guessing Hank. Pitching like this will prove Hank wrong again, because it was Steinbrenner who wanted him over the winter. And now Brian Cashman is looking smart as Santana’s starts are fertilizing the field in Queens.

But before Santana is called a failure and put on the Barry Zito list, let’s have him reread his job description and win some games.