Five Mets Pitchers Combine For 159 Pitch No Hitter

It took five pitchers throwing a total of 159 pitches, but the New York Mets achieved just the second no hitter in the clubs’ history, which dates back to 1962. The Mets beat Philadelphia 3-0 on April 29th at Citi Field.

Starter Tylor Megill pitched the first five innings, and was the winning pitcher; he has a 4-0 record on the season, with a 1.93 ERA. He’s in his second year with the Mets, and has been a pleasant surprise with this great start to the season. Megill was followed by Drew Smith, Joely Rodriguez, Seth Lugo, and finally Edwin Diaz, who picked up a save. The Mets improved to 15-6, good for 1st place in the NL East.

Throughout their 60 year history, the Mets have had some great pitchers, but only Johann Santana had previously pitched a no hitter for the club, doing so in 2012. Some Mets pitchers have thrown no hitters while playing for other clubs. Max Scherzer, who joined the Mets this year, threw a pair of no hitters as a Washington National in 2015. Dwight Gooden pitched one in 1996 for the New York Yankees. Hall of Famer Tom Seaver pitched one as member of the Cincinnati Reds in 1978. Don Cardwell, who played with the 1969 Miracle Mets at the end of his career, pitched one as a member of the Chicago Cubs in 1960. David Cone pitched a perfect game as a member of the Yankees in 1999. For obscure Mets, there was Warren Spahn, who spent half of 1965, his final season in the majors, with New York. He pitched no hitters in 1960 and 1961 for the Milwaukee Braves. (Spahn’s Mets career is pretty much trivial, but his overall career wasn’t; he won 363 games, the most ever by a left hander). Of course, the best example of a Met finding no hit success with other clubs is the incomparable Nolan Ryan. Ryan was with the Mets in 1966, and 1968-71. He was traded to the California Angels after the ’71 season. He then pitched for 23 more years with the Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers and threw seven no hitters between 1973 and 1991.

With fewer complete games and the way bullpens are used today, combined no hitters may be the wave of the future. There were two last year, (Brewers and Cubs), two in 2019 (Astros and Angels), and one in 2018 (Dodgers). Of the 17 in major league history, nine have come in the 21st century, and eight of those were from 2012 onward.