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Eric Bruntlett pulled off a game-ending unassisted triple-play to kill the Mets’ comeback rally for a 9-7 win at Citi Field.
The Mets put on the hit-and-run with no outs, runners on first and second and Jeff Francoeur representing the winning run at the plate. Francoeur drove a liner up the middle – right to Bruntlett – who was moving over to cover second base. Bruntlett caught the ball for out No. 1, stepped on second for out No. 2 and tagged out Daniel Murphy for out No. 3.
Unreal, but there were many unbelievable moments during the game.
Angel Pagan led off the bottom of the first with an inside-the-park home run, but Oliver Perez had already spotted the Phillies six runs by that time.
Ollie – bad Ollie this time around – began the top of the first by giving up double during an eight-pitch at-bat to Jimmy Rollins, bumping our NoNoHitters.com count up to 7,606 New York and earning him a new entry on our No-hitters killed by first at batpage.
Perez then walked Shane Victorino before Jayson Werth worked a 10-pitch at-bat for a three-run homer. Three batters. Three runs.
Perez managed to get Ryan Howard to fly out and Raul Ibanez to ground out before embarking on another three-up, three-in. Pedro Feliz walked and Bruntlett got an infield single before Carlos Ruiz blasted a homer to left to make it 6-0.
It’s not often you see a pitcher pulled when he’s about to face the opposing pitcher with two out, but Mets skipper Jerry Manuel went to Nelson Figueroa to get out the Phils’ Pedro Martinez.
Pagan tried to jump-start a Mets’ comeback with a leadoff inside-the-park homer that Victorino mistakenly assumed was a ground-rule double. Pagan added an outside-the-park homer in the third and Luis Castillo went 3-for-4 with two runs scored to at least make it a game.
For the record, Rollins’ first-inning double marked the 150th time over the past 47-plus seasons that a leadoff double killed a Mets’ no-hitter.
Bruntlett’s triple play is only the 15th in Major League history, and only the second in the ninth inning. The Detroit Tigers’ Johnny Neun pulled one off at Navin Field on May 31, 1927, to seal a 1-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
I am thinking that the number of no-hitters broken up in the first at bat is too low to be correct. The ratio (947 out of 7506) is less than one for eight. Though skewed somewhat by not accounting for bases on balls, one still would expect lead off hitters to be more successful. In fact, the itemized lists of no-nos broken up in the first at bat during the past two seasons show the ratio at about twice as high, which seems more reasonable.
Going to today’s game with a mess of Cub Scouts, hoping that Bobby Parnell puts No No-Nos out of business!
Thanks for raising the question, and when you put it in the terms of a leadoff batting average, it does seem awfully low. That research was done a couple of years ago, so I’m going to have to take some sample years as soon as I have some time (might be a week or so) and do some game-by-game checking do see if it jives. I’ll let you know what I find.
Thanks Steve. You’re right – in hindsight, those numbers are very likely off, probably by a decent margin.
We’re going to take the familiar 2009 Mets step of putting that page on the 15-day DL (with the possibility of shutting it down for the rest of the season) until it can be rehabbed.
OK, after some extensive research, the page is back up now with correct numbers:
* 1,741 games began with a leadoff hit by the Mets’ opponent
* 1,298 potential no-hitters were broken up by a single
* 282 potential no-hitters were broken up by a double
* 57 potential no-hitters were broken up by a triple
* 104 potential no-hitters were broken up by a home run
* 928 of those games were played on the road
* 813 were played at home (Citi Field, Shea Stadium or the Polo Grounds)
The eventual grand re-opening will include additional breakdowns such as hitters with the most leadoff hits, pitchers who have given up the most, etc.