Johan Santana pitches Mets First Ever No-Hitter

METS 8
CARDINALS 0

		Final		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		R		H		E
		St. Louis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
		NY Mets	0	0	0	2	0	3	3	0	X	8	8	0
WP: J. Santana (3-2) LP: A. Wainwright (4-6)

Tom Seaver. Jerry Koosman. Nolan Ryan. Ron Darling. Bobby Ojeda. Doc Gooden. David Cone. Al Leiter. Rick Reed. Tom Glavine. Pedro Martinez. These are a few of the many names that have pitched for the New York Mets franchise.

But none of them pitched a no-hitter for the Mets. Sure, Ryan pitched seven no-hitters after he left New York; Seaver pitched a pair after he was traded to Cincinnati; Al Leiter had his no-hitter before he ever became a Met when he was still a Florida Marlin.

For 8,019 games the Mets had become synonymous with no-hit futility. Coming into Friday night's game, only the Mets and San Diego Padres had failed to garner a no-hitter in their histories. That was about to change.

Johan Santana changed all of that in a season when Santana was coming off shoulder surgery that kept him on the shelf for over a year, and there was question about how much Santana had left. He looked good at times this year, but at other times, he looked like the shell of the guy who had dominated the mound for the Mets in 2008 and 2009.

Friday night became his night, the culmination of his pitching brilliance, an exclamation point that Santana was back as the true Ace of the New York Metropolitans. More importantly, his feat ended years of close calls as the Mets finally achieved their first ever no-hitter.

It took 50 years, yet, for Mets fans, the longn wait was worth it.

The game itself was truly bizarre. Former Met Carlos Beltran returned to Citi Field and narrowly missed an extra base hit down the left field line, but the ball landed just foul.

Mike Baxter, while trying to preserve the no-no, sacrificed his body by smashing into the wall in left while making a catch of a Yadier Molina fly ball. Baxter, who grew up in Queens, was taken out of the game, but without his work, the no-hitter would have been lost.

Then, of course, there was Daniel Murphy's great grab on a looping popup by Beltran in the eighth to preserve the no-hitter. What made this play even more impressive was the fact that Murphy was about to collide with short stop Omar Quintanilla, who was only in his second game in the majors.

With Santana inching closer and closer to immortality, his pitch count got higher and higher. Through seven innings, he was well over 100 pitches; concern grew whether he could avoid aggravating his injury.

He never did; instead, he got stronger.

Santana forced Matt Holliday to fly out to shallow center, then got Allen Craig to line out to left, and, finally, he struck out World Series hero David Freese swinging on a 3-2 pitch to win it.

The fans at Citi Field started chanting "Jo-han, Jo-han" as early as the eighth as they pushed Santana and the Mets to finish the job. The fans had seen many pitchers come close to this mark, and they didn't want to be disappointed again. Unlike past near no-hitters, this one had a feel that it was meant to be.

After the final strike, Santana was mobbed by his teammates. Even a fan, wearing a Gary Carter jersey, jumped onto the field and joined the celebratory action before security carried him off the field.

Manager Terry Collins, who had to battle himself over Santana's pitch count, stood atop of the dugout and watched his players celebrate. When Santana approached Collins, the two embraced and Collins, who was very emotional during his post game conference, called Santana his "hero."

WATCH THE 9th INNING!

Sure, the Mets are now a game out of first in the NL East, but for one night the Mets rid a giant albatross off their collective backs. Like this franchise has done so many times in the past when you least expect it, they make you ... believe. Just amazin'.

Box Score.