It took six walks and five pitchers, but the Mets secured the second no-hitter in franchise history when Tylor Megill and four relievers combined to shut down the Philadelphia Phillies in a 3-0 win at Citi Field on Friday night.
The feat is the latest highlight in a breakout season for Megill, who was the team’s unexpected opening day starter and is now 4-0 with a 1.93 E.R.A. in five starts. On Friday he had walked three and struck out five through five innings when he was pulled from the game. He had thrown 88 pitches.
Mets 3, Phillies 0 | Box Score | Play-by-Play
Megill was relieved by Drew Smith, who threw one and a third innings, walking one. Smith gave way to Joely Rodriguez, who walked two in an inning of work. Seth Lugo was fourth, retiring both batters he faced.
The team’s closer, Edwin Díaz, had a tough assignment with Bryce Harper, the National League’s reigning winner of the Most Valuable Player Award, leading off the ninth, but Díaz blew the Phillies away, striking out the side on 13 pitches.
While the Mets’ biggest issue seemed to a touch of wildness, the team’s pitchers were also bailed out multiple times by tough defensive plays by center fielder Brandon Nimmo.
The team’s offense kept the drama low on a night that belonged to the pitchers. Second baseman Jeff McNeil put the Mets ahead in the bottom of the second inning with a two-run single and first baseman Pete Alonso gave the bullpen some breathing room by hitting a home run in the bottom of the sixth.
The Mets once endured a rough stretch in which the franchise did not have a no-hitter from the team’s inception in 1962 until 2012 — even as the former Met Nolan Ryan threw a record seven — but finally had that streak end when Johan Santana threw a no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 1, 2012.