Could this be the year of the first Mets’ no-hitter?
The club held the Florida Marlins to just one hit through seven innings Thursday afternoon en route to a three-hit, 9-0 rout at Tradition Field.
Mets’ starter Oliver Perez held the Fish hitless for the first two innings, striking out three while walking one. Brooklyn-born fan favorite Nelson Figueroa also tossed two innings of hitless ball.
The Mets, meanwhile, loaded up on the Marlins pitching staff with 12 hits after managing 15 the previous day.
Jose Reyes sparked the club with a pair of home runs, suggesting that Manager Jerry Manuel’s chatter about possibly moving Reyes down to the third spot and leading off with Luis Castillo might not be too crazy. Carlos Beltran also had a roundtripper Thursday.
By the way, a Mets’ Spring Training no-hitter is not without precedent. On March 21,1965, Gary Kroll and Gordy Richardson combined for a nine-inning no-hitter during a 6-0 spring training game in St. Petersburg. Glenn in Troy notes a picture on page 30 of the 1965 Mets yearbook of Richardson throwing a pitch in the ninth inning and another of Kroll and Richardson getting congratulations from the Mets front office brass the following day.
