NEW YORK—The Mets have never had a no-hitter thrown in their 48-year history. Tonight, although the lone baserunner came in the third, it could’ve happened.
Jon Niese allowed a leadoff double to Padres center-fielder Chris Denorfia, and that was the only baserunner he put on all game.
Niese retired 27 of 28 batters, including the last 21 to face him, in one of the greatest pitching performances in Mets’ history. It was the first Mets one-hit shutout since Aaron Heilman on April 15, 2005.
Niese’s final line was this: CG, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 SO.
There is nothing much more to say about the Padres offense since they were almost no-hit.
The Mets, though, were trying to get to Jon Garland after being two-hit in the day game of the doubleheader.
It looked like it was going to be a long night for the Mets after getting Jose Reyes to third with fewer than two outs and not scoring him in the first, but they came through in the second.
Chris Carter, starting in left field in the nightcap, led off with a double. Rod Barajas moved him to third with a single, and Jeff Francoeur singled Carter in for the game’s first run.
With Francoeur on first and no outs, second baseman Ruben Tejada grounded into a triple play. Unlike the one Jeff Francoeur hit into last season or the one the Mets turned earlier this season, this one was routine. Tejada grounded to third, Chase Headley stepped on third, threw to second, and Lance Zawadzki threw to first to complete the eighth triple play in Padres’ history.
In the third, Chris Denorfia led-off with a double down the right-field line. Who would’ve thought that would have been the lone baserunner of the game against him?
In the third, the Mets added two runs. Jon Niese led-off with a walk. Jose Reyes laid down a bunt, beat it out, and went to second on a throwing error by catcher Yorvit Torrealba. Two batters later, David Wright drove in his 40th run with a groundout to second, and it was followed by an Ike Davis RBI single, making it 3-0 Mets.
There would be no more scoring on either side, as Jon Niese carried the Mets to a 3-0 nightcap victory over the Padres.
Jason Bay got a full game off and Angel Pagan came in to run for Chris Carter in the sixth and stayed in center field.
The Mets split the day-night doubleheader to tie the Phillies for second place in the NL East, both 2.5 games behind the Braves for first place.
They will now head to Baltimore, Cleveland, and the Yankees for nine games at American League ballparks, using a DH.
The Mets finished a 5-1 home stand and are 32-28 on the season. Jon Niese said after the game that once he found out after the game that he could’ve had a perfect game, if it hadn’t been for the Chris Denorfia double, he was “crushed.”
Nothing to be “crushed” about, Jon, it was one of the greatest pitched games in Mets’ history.
Next Series Probable Pitchers
June 11
New York: R.A. Dickey (2010: 3-0, 3.20 ERA) vs. Baltimore: Jeremy Guthrie (2010: 3-6, 3.71 ERA)
June 12
New York: Hisanori Takahashi (2010: 4-2, 3.80 ERA) vs. Baltimore: Brian Matusz (2010: 2-6, 5.10 ERA)
June 13
New York: Mike Pelfrey (2010: 8-1, 2.23 ERA) vs. Baltimore: TBD
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