So, what do I lead with when this no-hitter is over? Bob Moose in 1969? Max Scherzer in 2015? Proof that a no-hitter thrown at the Mets late in a season doesn’t necessarily preclude that season from having a successful (maybe Amazin’ly successful) postseason? That’s a tough sell. I know it’s true, but when the Mets have looked like they’ve looked for not only these eight innings when they’ve done literally nothing against Bowden Francis but for days on end, who wants to be the house optimist?
Should I compare it to Chris Heston in 2015? Yes, we did get no-hit twice en route to a pennant. The first one had more novelty to it, given that it was the first one we’d been smothered by in 22 years. We were also in the midst of a teamwide slump then, but that was in June, and the game was effectively out of reach, and the difference was that by the time it got to the ninth inning, I was kind of pulling for Chris Heston to finish the job, because what the hell, right? Maybe not right, but it’s where my head was on that night. That night, however, isn’t this afternoon. This afternoon in Toronto is in September. Nothing’s been clinched the way it was when Scherzer went medieval on our bats at the tail end of 2015. Resolution to the season isn’t far off the way it was when Heston rose from oblivion to stifle us in the promising, albeit pre-Cespedes portion of that year.
The Ed Halicki no-hitter from 1975? Not much relevance. Darryl Kile? That was a September, but the September of 1993, a year that had spiraled into hopelessness by May. Bill Stoneman’s in 1972 was also in Canada, but so what? Jim Bunning’s perfect game was historic, in its own category. Sandy Koufax was Sandy Koufax. Jim Maloney carried his into the eleventh. They say it wasn’t a no-hitter — thanks, Johnny Lewis — but I’ll bet it very much felt like one that night in 1965.
We have a few too many opposition no-hitters to reference. We don’t need another.
All we’ve got going for us after eight innings on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, where Bowden Francis’s no-hit bid is concerned is maybe he’s inherited some of that Dave Stieb come close for the Blue Jays but not get it energy. Also, the game’s not over with yet, but that feels like a technicality. The Mets allowed themselves to see all of six pitches in the eighth. The first two batters made outs after one pitch apiece. Is the bus to the airport idling so loudly that it’s distracting you fellows? I know Rogers Centre used to be called SkyDome, but do you have to sky out practically every at-bat? What a waste of Sean Manaea’s six-and-two-thirds of one-run ball, not to mention the credible relief we got from Reed Garrett and Danny Young. Maybe a 1-0 loss via no-hitter is the bottoming out this “attack” needs to get going in Philadelphia this weekend. No, I don’t know how getting no-hit would serve to jump-start the bats, but I’m grasping here. I’m going to have to write this disaster up. I need something.
About the only thing interesting left to not exactly root for but take in is hearing Keith Raad call the last out of a no-hitter. That was the main reason I rooted for Chris Heston in 2015. I wanted to hear Howie Rose do the honors, even if it was from the victimized side. Howie understood the responsibility that night. A no-hitter is a no-hitter. I think Keith gets it, too.
But that’s the smallest of consolations when we’re tied with the Braves for the final playoff spot, they play the Nationals tonight, and our schedule gets much harder after Toronto. Then again, Toronto hasn’t been easy. This is too much of a callback to the Angels series and the A’s series. Why are we playing all these allegedly crummy American League teams if we can’t take at least two out of three from all of them?
Who’s up to start the top of the ninth, anyway? Yeah, like that’s gonna matter.
Spoiler alert: It did matter.
Wait, let me check the scorecard. I think it’s Lindor. Hey, you never know – don’t touch that dial! He’s been kind of hot this season.
I “experienced” more of this game than I thought I would. Started driving home in the top of the 4th, listening to the Toronto broadcast team. *Who I liked BTW, whoever they were, they kept going back to how good Manaea looked and how he should get some big money this offseason. They did give me one moment where they tried to get me to drive off the road, “Francisco Lindor is moving funny out near second base. Pitch clock is off and he’s talking to an umpire. Something seems to be wrong.” Good-bye season, right? Pulled muscle doing what, trotting out to the field?
I turned into my driveway right as Manaea was getting pulled. And in the time it took me to get out of the car, kick off my shoes and turn on the TV (and tune to MLB) it’s not the 7th or even our half of the 8th but Danny Young is pitching. WTF? Time warp anyone?
And then I got to watch the only inning of this game that mattered. On to Philly.
*By the 7th they started talking pitch count with Francis. One of the last things I heard from them was, “He’ll probably stay in. John Schneider knows that the fan base really needs something special this season.” I feel sort of bad for Francis and Toronto fans – I like Toronto, nice city. But not that bad.
Forgot it was an afternoon game. Turned my Audacy on at 6:45, figuring to get the keys of the game or something. Instead they’re raving about just having watched the most incredible game of the year. Wasn’t sure whether to be thrilled or really, really mad.
A rare day game (8pm uk time) that I got to see us win live! Kind of resigned that we don’t win when I watch and was (very) mildly intrigued that I would see a no hitter (live, obviously I’ve watched the entire Johan game but not live). And then, the (Francisco) monks show up! Bloody great
The combined no-hitter in 2022 was pretty cool, too. If a combined shutout is still a shutout, then a combined no-hitter still counts as a no-hitter.
caught bits and pieces at work and in my car.
tuned in for last time to that 2pitch-2out sequence, and in disgust turned off the radio and texted a fellow met fan that they were over (as I did after edwin’s 2nd, recent, blown save)
later saw his text about tie score and bases loaded. wow.
ha! maybe i should have kept the game on!
to which i say, again: GAME ON!
If anyone wants to add to their Mets, “One who got away” list, Kumar Rocker is scheduled to start for the Rangers tonight.
I’m curious to see how well–and durably–Rocker and deGrom pitch for the Rangers after their Tommy John surgeries.
The Mets dealings with Rocker were odd. If the Mets hadn’t drafted Rocker in the 1st place, there would be no regrets. They aren’t strangers to pitching prospects, like deGrom, getting TJ surgery, which implied Rocker’s medical profile must be extraordinarily alarming for the Mets to reject him after drafting him. Yet, while Rocker did have Tommy John surgery for the Rangers, it doesn’t appear to be an unusual one. If anything, Rocker has recovered from his TJ surgery relatively quickly. He dominated the minors before his call-up.
Also, it’d be nice to have Rocker in the Mets system right now since the Mets starting rotation is unsettled for 2025 and it’s been a down year for Mets pitching prospects. Scott is hyped, but he looked an awful lot like the mediocre version of Megill before his injury. Vasil, Hamel, and Tidwell have been hit hard at AAA. They should be major league ready by now, and they’re not. Sproat looked promising enough in AA to be speculated about as a September call-up, but he’s been hit hard in AAA. Of the top pitching prospects, Tong in AA is the only one who looks untarnished, and he’s 2 years away barring Rocker-like dominance next year.
Okay, today I learned that Rocker’s relatively quick recovery from Tommy John surgery isn’t damning for Mets doctors because the medical concern was about Rocker’s shoulder. The TJ surgery may be related to the shoulder issue; I don’t know. Apparently the Rangers have worked with Rocker to change his delivery to protect his shoulder. So far so good.
So here’s something a little crazy. According to the MLB site, this game was the first time the Mets came back to win a game in which they were no-hit for at least eight innings since July 31, 1983. I remember that game well, as it was the first Met game I ever attended (technically second, as it was the night cap of a doubleheader.)
The Pirates’ Jose DeLeon no hit the Mets for 8-1/3 innings. The Mets countered with Mike Torrez, who pitched 10 innings (!!!) of shutout baseball. The Mets won the game 1-0 in the bottom of the twelfth with Mookie Wilson basically stealing his way around the bases.
That game has a lot to do with why I’m still following this team forty years later. One wonders if there were any kids at yesterday’s matinee attending their first major league game.
Fun part of the Lindor home run: With the ball rocketing out, the Blue Jays catcher forlornly raising his glove to eye level where Francis was supposed to throw the pitch.
I hope Francis continues to be good because I like pitchers who aren’t overpowering yet get outs by fooling batters just enough. The art of pitching as opposed to the science of it.
A sacrifice fly from Alonso and a home run from F. Alvarez, on top of Lindor coming out of his recent slump, are signs we’ve been looking for from the cold Mets offense. How often this season have the Mets, especially Alonso, failed to make a productive out? They had 2 sac flies in the 9th inning. Lindor’s home run and the outburst that followed it felt like breaking a seal or unclogging a sink. We won’t know if that’s the case until they play tomorrow.
Good timing by Mendoza with Diaz. In game 1, Diaz nearly gave up a walk-off home run. His 1 pitch for the save in this game was a middle-middle fastball. That could have turned into a 1-run game that could have been a tied game if Stanek had allowed 1 more runner on. Diaz was warmed up anyway, 1 pitch thrown, day off today–the appearance shouldn’t affect him tomorrow.
The Diamondbacks won by scoring a lot of runs again. Otherwise, it was a good night of scoreboard watching after the Mets win: the Padres, Braves, and Cubs lost. Competing with 3 teams for 3 wildcards is anxious enough. Ever since they got hot and closed to 2 games back of the Mets, I’ve worried about the Cubs sprinting from behind to snatch a wildcard at the finish line. They’ve lost a few since then, and the Cubs are 5 back of the Mets again. 5 games behind with 16 to play is not hanging by a thread like the Giants’ 8 games behind, but it is enough cushion for a stumble or two.
The Diamondbacks’ pitching and the Braves’ growing IL should advantage the Mets, but 16 games is a short sample. The defending NL champs can hit their way to a wildcard. And the Braves are the Braves until they prove otherwise, no matter how many players off the scrap heap they plug in.
Phillies, Nationals, Phillies, Braves, Brewers is daunting, but I’m optimistic. The 2024 Mets have played down, which we saw in Toronto. They’ve also played up. The eager, talented, young Nationals playing spoiler excepted, for the rest of the way, however long they make that, the Mets can only play up.
The playoff odds predictors are finally giving the Mets an ever-so-slight advantage over the Braves!
Fangraphs: NYM 56.6%, ATL 55.8%
ESPN: NYM 56.4%, ATL 56.1%
Baseball Prospectus: NYM 55.2%, ATL 54.6%
And Baseball Reference is the most bullish, at 69.1% NYM (1-day change of +16.4%), ATL 39.6% (1-day change of -15.4%). Still pretty volatile, but it’s nice that we’ve apparently moved beyond the situation where the Braves are given higher odds even when they’re behind in the standings (see last week’s Fangraphs article by Ben Clemens about that).
I’m curious why the playoff odds predictor percentages for the Padres and Diamondbacks are in the 90s while the Mets and Braves’ percentages are in the 50s, Baseball Reference excepted, given how closely spaced the NL wildcard standings are: 64, 65, 66, 67 in the loss column. The Mets and Braves have a 3 game series, but so do the Padres and Diamondbacks.
I’ve learned to go by Baseball Reference’s odds and ignore the other ones.
My family and I took the trip to this game on a whim. Best decision ever! Great game… although I sorta fell asleep in the 4th inning; forever thank you to my husband for nudging me and saying”you know there’s a no-hitter going don’t you?”
You could see Lindor was pissed after those first 2 swings, he seemed to take a moment to regroup. Dead silence in the stadium on the home run; except for me yelling of course!
I hope the 9th inning is the start of something. The team can’t beat the Phillies if the batters sleepwalk through 8 innings, no matter how good the pitching might be. Question for you, Greg. Was that the first time both Franciscos homered in the same inning?
On July 1, 2023, Franciscos Alvarez and Lindor (along with Brandon Nimmo) homered in the bottom of the third inning off Anthony DeSclafani of the, yes, San FRANCISCO Giants. The top of the ninth inning of September 11, 2024, in Toronto marked the second time the pair had gone deep in the same frame.
yes, seriously!
the pitching has arrived.
let the orgy of offense we saw before the break return.
aim for the phils and don’t let this get away!
I don’t know, Jerry, but it was probably in San FRANCISCO!
As for a no-hitter where multiple pitchers are involved, it’s best described as ‘a game where one team got no hits.’
Yawn!
Also known as “every first inning of every Mets game this year.” At least it seems like it…
Close. According to BR (https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=b&team=NYM&year=2024#innng), the 1st inning is the Mets’ 2nd worst inning for offense.