Tylor Megill and four relievers combined on the second no-hitter in team history as the host New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 on Friday night.
Johan Santana threw the Mets’ only previous no-hitter on June 1, 2012, when he struck out eight in an 8-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
The no-hitter was the first of the major league season and the first time the Phillies have been no-hit since Josh Beckett of the Los Angeles Dodgers blanked them in 2014.
The Mets threw 159 pitches — the most ever thrown in a nine-inning no-hitter — while striking out 12 and walking six.
“It was exciting, obviously,” Megill said. “Seeing the game and all these guys you know they came, filled up the zone and did their jobs. This is the first (no-hitter) I’ve been part of and I’m glad it’s with this group of guys.”
The Friday gem was the fourth no-hitter at Citi Field since the Mets moved from Shea Stadium following the 2008 season. Along with Santana’s no-no, the San Francisco Giants’ Chris Heston and current Met Max Scherzer, while with the Washington Nationals, no-hit the Mets in 2015.
Megill threw 88 pitches in five hitless innings. He issued two of his three walks to Kyle Schwarber and struck out five but was pulled due to several long counts.
“I kept kind of looking up there because we’re always looking,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “I knew early that Tylor obviously wasn’t gonna finish the game. Just a matter of when and he threw close to 90 pitches in five innings. That was plenty but what a job the rest of the guys did against a really good-hitting lineup.”
The closest Megill came to allowing a hit occurred with two outs in the third. Jean Segura hit a sinking liner, but center fielder Brandon Nimmo raced in and dove to his left to make the catch. Nimmo also made running catches on Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm to end the first and second innings.
“We were trying to win the game. … I was trying to make sure we were in position to win the game because you drop your guard against them, they’ll be on top of you quickly,” Showalter added.
Drew Smith kept the no-hitter going by fanning Nick Castellanos after issuing a two-out walk to Harper in the sixth. Joely Rodriguez ended the seventh by getting Bohm to bounce into a double play after Schwarber drew his third walk.
Rodriguez exited in the eighth after allowing a one-out walk to pinch hitter Johan Carmargo, and Seth Lugo retired Segura and Rhys Hoskins to end the inning.
Edwin Diaz finished it by striking out Harper, Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto in the ninth for his fourth save in five chances to complete the 17th combined no-hitter in major league history.
“I knew (the Phillies were hitless after eight) because I was watching the scoreboard,” Diaz said. “I want to know who I’m facing.”
The Mets were held to two hits through four innings against Aaron Nola before getting three hits in the fourth and took a 2-0 lead on Jeff McNeil’s two-run single.
Pete Alonso increased the margin in the sixth when he ended a 40 at-bat drought without a homer, belting a two-out solo shot.
Nola allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings. He tied a season high with nine strikeouts and walked none.
–Field Level Media