Mets' J.D. Martinez breaks up Braves' no-hit bid with home run with two outs in ninth
NEW YORK — The Mets were one out away from being no-hit for the first time since 2015.
J.D. Martinez ensured that they would not suffer that fate.
After being held hitless for the first 8⅔ innings, the Mets designated hitter ripped a first-pitch fastball from Braves closer Raisel Iglesias over the right-center field wall to break up the no-hit bid. Harrison Bader added another single but the Mets fell short, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field.
Before Martinez's first long ball as a member of the Mets, there had been times where they hit the ball hard against the Braves' Max Fried. There were other at-bats where the Mets looked completely flummoxed by the 30-year-old right-hander.
For seven innings, nearly all of the Mets' results in their at-bats were the same.
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Fried opened his start against the Mets with seven hitless innings while he only allowed a trio of walks — two in the third to Brandon Nimmo and Tomas Nido, and another to Pete Alonso in the seventh. He was removed after needing 109 pitches to get through the seven innings.
However, it was the second outing in three games in which Fried has not allowed a hit after he held the Mariners without a hit across six innings on April 29 in Seattle.
Joe Jimenez allowed a pair of walks to Harrison Bader and DJ Stewart in the eighth, but ended the threat with back-to-back strikeouts of Tyrone Taylor and Starling Marte. The Mets trailed the Braves, 3-0, after eight innings despite rookie Christian Scott's second straight quality start in as many starts.
The Braves have not completed a no-hitter since Kent Mercker threw one against the Dodgers on April 8, 1994. The Mets, meanwhile, have not been no-hit since Max Scherzer did it as a member of the Nationals back on Oct. 3, 2015, at Citi Field.
Michael Harris II saved the no-hit effort in the bottom of the seventh inning when J.D. Martinez launched a deep flyball to straightaway center field. The Braves outfielder made the catch on the run before colliding with the wall.
It was one of five balls that exited a Mets player's bat at more than 101 mph but were converted for outs through eight innings.