New York • Johan Santana pitched the first no-hitter in New York Mets history, helped by an umpire's missed call and an outstanding catch in left field in an 8-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.
After a string of close calls in their 51-season history, Santana finally finished the job in the Mets' 8,020th game since the team was born in 1962.
"Finally, the first one," Santana said. "That is the greatest feeling ever."
He needed a couple of key assists to pull it off.
Carlos Beltran hit a line drive over third base in the sixth inning that hit the foul line and should have been called fair. But third base umpire Adrian Johnson ruled it foul and the no-hitter was intact even though a replay clearly showed a mark where the ball landed on the chalk line.
Hometown kid Mike Baxter then made a tremendous catch in left field to rob Yadier Molina of extra bases in the seventh, crashing into the wall and getting injured in the process.
Making his 11th start since missing last season following shoulder surgery, Santana (3-2) threw a career-high 134 pitches. He struck out eight and walked five in the majors' third no-hitter this season.
"Amazing," Santana said. "Coming into this season I was just hoping to come back and stay healthy and help this team, and now I am in this situation in the greatest city for baseball."
In the ninth, Santana quickly retired Matt Holliday and Allen Craig on shallow fly balls. With the crowd of 27,069 on its feet in a frenzy, David Freese went to a 3-2 count before his foul tip was caught by Josh Thole.
2012 no-hitters
April 21 • Phil Humber, Chicago White Sox at Seattle, 4-0 (perfect game)
May 2 • Jered Weaver, L.A. Angels vs. Minnesota, 9-0
June 1 • Johan Santana, N.Y. Mets vs. St. Louis, 8-0
No-hitters vs. Cardinals
June 1, 2012 • Johan Santana, New York Mets, 8-0
June 29, 1990 • Fernando Valenzuela, Los Angeles, 6-0
June 16, 1978 • Tom Seaver, Cincinnati, 4-0
Sept. 17, 1968 • Gaylord Perry, San Francisco, 1-0
May 15, 1960 • Don Cardwell, Chicago, 4-0
May 11, 1919 • Hod Eller, Cincinnati, 6-0
July 20, 1906 • Mal Eason, Brooklyn, 2-0
July 15, 1901 • Christy Mathewson, New York Giants, 5-0
Mets 8, Cardinals 0
St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Furcal ss 3 0 0 0 1 0 .328
Beltran cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .287
Holliday lf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .277
Craig rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .345
Freese 3b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .262
Y.Molina c 2 0 0 0 1 0 .330
Ma.Adams 1b 2 0 0 0 1 1 .302
Greene 2b 3 0 0 0 0 2 .221
Wainwright p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .042
S.Freeman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
a-Robinson ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .240
Cleto p 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Totals 27 0 0 0 5 8
New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Baxter lf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .323
A.Torres cf 1 1 0 0 1 0 .211
Nieuwenhuis cf-lf
3 3 2 0 1 1 .301
D.Wright 3b 2 2 1 1 2 0 .366
Duda rf 3 1 1 4 0 1 .259
Dan.Mrphy 2b 4 0 2 3 0 0 .305
I.Davis 1b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .167
Thole c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .271
Quintanilla ss 4 1 2 0 0 1 .417
J.Santana p 3 0 0 0 0 2 .045
Totals 30 8 8 8 5 9
St. Louis 000 000 000 0 0 0
New York 000 203 30x 8 8 0
a-struck out for S.Freeman in the 8th.
LOBSt. Louis 5, New York 5. 2BD.Wright (18). 3BDan.Murphy (1). HRDuda (8), off Wainwright. RBIsD.Wright (31), Duda 4 (30), Dan.Murphy 3 (22). SJ.Santana. SFDuda.
Runners left in scoring positionSt. Louis 1 (Greene); New York 2 (Thole, I.Davis). RISPSt. Louis 0 for 2; New York 3 for 7.
St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO ERA
Wainwright L, 4-6 61⁄3 6 7 7 3 6 4.98
S.Freeman 2⁄3 1 1 1 2 1 13.50
Cleto 1 1 0 0 0 2 0.00
New York IP H R ER BB SO ERA
J.Santna W,3-2 9 0 0 0 5 8 2.38
Inherited runners-scoredS.Freeman 2-2.
UmpiresHome, Gary Cederstrom; First, Lance Barksdale; Second, Fieldin Culbreth; Third, Adrian Johnson. T2:35. A27,069 (41,922).