Remembering Mets History (2012) Johan Santana Throws First Mets No Hitter

Friday night June 1st, 2012: At first it seemed like any other New York night. Terry Collins' New York Mets were playing well & surprising everyone with a 29-23 record, just one game out of first place. 27,069 fans came to Citi Field to see the Mets go up against the reigning World Champion, St Louis Cardinals (27-25).

The Mets sent Johan Santana to the mound, 2-2 with a 2.75 ERA. Santana had missed all of 2011 due to injury, he had an impressive Opening Day win, pitching five scoreless innings then struggled. In his last start he threw a complete game four hit shutout at Citi Field, beating the San Diego Padres. On this night he was even better, he went out & made Mets history.

After a quiet 1st inning, Johan started out the 2nd getting Allen Craig to fly out. He then walked two batters but struck out Matt Adams & Tyler Green to end the inning. 

In the 3rd he got an easy ground ball out, a weak pop up & soft liner to short, as the Cards went down 1-2-3. Santana would walk the lead off batters in the 4th & 5th innings but retired the sides with no trouble. In the 5th he got Tyler Green & Adam Wainwright on strike outs.

Close Call: In the 6th, ex-Met Carlos Beltran drilled a line drive down the line that was called a foul ball. Replays showed the ball may have been fair, but the ruling was foul ball & that's that. 

A one two three sixth inning, had Beltran ground out to first, Matt Holiday go down on strikes & Craig pop out. By now everyone was feeling the no hitter looming. 

By now the Mets were well ahead with a 5-0 lead. In the home 4th, Kirk Nieuwenhuis singled & David Wright doubled. Luca Duda followed with a sac fly making it 1-0. Daniel Murphy then tripled off the Cards; Adam Wainwright to make it 2-0. 

In the 6th Lucas Duda blasted a three run HR over the right centerfield wall. 

 In the 7th inning, Santana got David Freese to pop out to first base, there were eight outs to go for the no hitter.

The next batter was Yadier Molina, a Mets rival since he hit the winning HR in the 2006 NLCS. Molina was out to spoil another Mets historic day, he hit a fly ball deep to left field. 

Queens born Mike Baxter chased the ball which was hit over his head, he made a leaping catch crashing into the left field wall & fell to the ground. He injured himself but held on to the ball for out number two.

Everyone held their breath during the play, but a huge sigh of relief came when Baxter made one of the most important catches in Mets history. Baxter was removed from the game but got a huge ovation as he left & big thank you from Santana.

Matt Adams grounded out for the third out, six more outs to go for Mets history. 

In the home 7th, the Mets scored two more runs as David Wright walked with the bases loaded & Daniel Murphy singled another run in, 8-0 Mets.

In the top of the 8th, Tyler Greene flew out to left & pinch hitter; Shane Robinson struck out. Carlos Beltran then hit a weak liner up the middle, but Daniel Murphy was able to make a nice grab to end the inning. 

By this time Santana had passed his usual pitch count & everyone was wondering if he would be pulled. But Manager Terry Collins & pitching coach Dan Warthan knew how important this game was to the organization & to the fans.

 Santana came out for the 9th, the crowd cheered & remained on their feet as they had been. The viewers at home held their breath as well. Matt Holliday lined out to centerfield, on another close play but Andres Torres made a fine catch.

With Two more outs to go for history. Allen Craig then flew out to left for out #2. With the fans going wild, David Freese struck out swinging & Johan Santana had thrown the first no hitter in Mets history.

Mets One Hitter History: There had been 35 one hitters thrown by Mets pitchers, and though many have come close, it was on this night it was done for the very first time. 

The broadcasters knew how important it was to the us longtime fans as did Santana himself. He said "I am very happy & happy for you guys, the first one" as he acknowledged the Citi Field crowd after the game.

Quotes- Mets broadcaster; Gary Cohen called it: "He struck him out! It has happened. In their 51st season, Johan Santana has thrown the first no-hitter in New York Mets history.”

Throughout the game us longtime Mets fans, could not help but think of Tom Seaver & Dwight Gooden, the two best pitchers the franchise has ever had. They both came close, especially Seaver who tossed five Mets one hitters. 

Guys like Jon Matlack, Gary Gentry, Tom Glavine & David Cone had all thrown two Mets one hitters each. More recent there was Steve Trachsel, who had thrown three Mets one hitters, but Santana the only no hitter.

Former Met; Nolan Ryan, who has throw seven no hitters & a Mets one hitter himself said it best; "They've had a lot of history of one-hitters, and it's because of the great pitchers they've had there. When you think of Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden there, and some of the other guys, it's amazing they never did."

Quotes- David Wright: "Short of Tom Seaver, I couldn't think of a better guy to have this recognition."

During the post game interview; Justin Turner gave Johan a cream pie to the face. It was a Turner tradition but maybe a bit out of line on this special occasion.

That week Santana won the NL Player of the Week Award. He was given the key to the City of New York as well.

Santana would go 6-9 on the year, unfortunately it was his last big-league season. He tore his shoulder capsule for the second time, had surgery but could never regain form. In a career that went 139-78 with 1988 strike outs & a 3.20 ERA in 284 starts. In four season with the Mets he was 46-34 with a 3.18 ERA, 607 Ks in 717 innings in 109 starts.