In case you missed it (you didn’t), The Mets got no-hit last night.
So, what to make of it?
1. It was only a matter of time.
For all the talk (Until Johan’s Pyrrhic Victory) about how the Mets had never had a no-hitter, I’ve often been shocked that, in nearly 19 years of being alive and 11 years of closely following the Mets, I’ve never seen the team fall on the short side of a no-no. Not anymore, thanks to Chris Heston, a nobody-turned-overnight-star who I shamelessly picked up in my fantasy league last night with the intention of unloading him on some sucker.
We’ve seen the Mets put up some pretty anemic performances at the plate in recent years. And yes, they’ve been close to getting shut out in the hit column before— I had to explain to my friend what a no-hitter was while watching Aaron Harang dominate the Mets into the seventh inning one cold night in April. So it always felt like a matter of time. After six innings, I wasn’t especially worried that this would be the night. After seven, I was almost certain. Weird how these things work. I’m sure Heston wasn’t sure until the final strike of the night— I doubt Johan was either, three years ago.
2. Ugly stats in home losses
The Mets haven’t lost many games at home. This was just their ninth. But when they’ve lost, it’s been bad. I’m going to go ahead and plagiarize the recap Logan Barer posted on MetsMerized Online (a FANTASTIC site, by the way, go check it out) last night:
New York has been held scoreless in five of its nine losses at Citi Field this season.
In New York’s nine home losses this year, the team has scored 12 total runs and hit .158 (45-284).
3. Hard luck for Noah
The Met offense was pathetic last night. But despite scoring four runs against Noah Syndergaard, the Giants hitters weren’t that much better against Thor (they did look better against Dillon Gee). Much of their damage was done with a dink-and-dunk offense, bombarding Noah with infield singles, broken-bat hits, and the like.
Just as Heston wasn’t quite as dominant as his now immortalized stat line suggests, Syndergaard wasn’t as bad as his line conversely. The Mets weren’t hitting balls hard, and neither were the Giants. The Giants just put them in the right places, and played clean defense to make life easy for their own rookie starter.
Overall, a pretty lousy night to be a Met fan. But hey, they’re still in first place, and something tells me Matt Harvey will be motivated to grab the spotlight back tonight.
