Tylor Megill, Drew Smith, Joely Rodriguez, Seth Lugo, & Edwin Diaz. For the first time in franchise history, these five New York Mets pitchers combine efforts to throw a no-hitter. It’s the second time in franchise history that the Mets have recorded a no-hitter, but unlike the first time, there were no generous calls; just electric pitching. It may have taken five pitchers, 159 total pitches, & six walks (half of them to Kyle Schwarber), but boy was it worth it.
The Mets won this game 3-0 off the back of a 2 RBI single from Jeff McNeil and a Pete Alonso HR, but the story of this game was this pitching staff. Tylor Megill began the game and was brilliant. Through five innings he struck out five and walked three on 88 pitches. Drew Smith came in relief for an inning and a third and struck out all four he faced before Joely Rodriguez took his place. Seth Lugo replaced him and shut down the two batters he was asked to get to end the top of the eighth. Edwin Diaz got the nod to close the ninth, and he didn’t miss. Against Harper, Castellanos, and Realmuto, none had a chance against his slider or his fastball. He solidified the Mets second franchise no-hitter with three strikeouts, and became the first pitcher to close out a no-hitter by striking out the side in the ninth inning.
There’s really something special about this Mets team. For the first time since 1986, the Mets have the best record in division and in all of baseball in April (and we know how that turned out). This pitching staff overall is phenomenal, with its current starting rotation possibly shaping up to be the best that this ballclub has ever produced at any point in its sixty-one year history, and Jacob deGrom hasn’t and won’t throw a single pitch in the regular season until June. This no-hitter might’ve made you forget that in the game previous, the benches cleared in St. Louis after dusting up Nolan Arenado when Mets players were hit multiple times in the series, and currently the Mets lead the league in HBPs standing at 20. The fortitude to just mentally reset and grind the Phillies shows the strength of this ballclub, and as far as I can tell, they’re a top 3 team in today’s game.
On the other side of the plate, Philadelphia sports in general just had an abysmal weekend. The Flyers concluded one of the worst seasons in their franchise history, Joel Embiid suffered an orbital fracture which will cause him to miss a couple of games against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and the cookie topper is that the Philadelphia Phillies get no-hit by division rival; seemingly best team in the league New York Metropolitans. It’s an absolute nightmare to be a fan from Philly right now. Yeah, Kyle Schwarber proved again why he’s an absolute Met killer by getting walked 3 times in the no-hitter then bashing 3 HR in the next two games, but only so much can be done when your team as a whole is in the bottom five in the league in total pitching ERA and you’re averaging more than an error a game. The Phillies must clean up their pitching and defense as a whole, because if they don’t, it’s a deep hole to climb up from the later you get into the season.
The Mets will host the World Series Champions and division rival Atlanta Braves (10-13) before heading back on the road to face the Phillies again (11-12) at Citizens Bank Park.
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