NIESE NO-HITS PHILS
4th Inning BB Is Only Blemish

NEW YORK, May 11 (AP) - Jon Niese fired the first no-hitter of the major league season, leading the New York Mets past the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 at Citi Field.  Niese accomplished the feat so efficiently and with so little fanfare, that many in the ballpark seemed unaware of the developing drama until the eighth inning.  The sole Philadelphia baserunner was Tony Gwynn, Jr., who drew a lead-off walk in the fourth.  Three ground balls later, that inning came to an end, with Gwynn stranded.  Niese struck out five and 14 of the 22 Phillies batters who put the ball in play did so on the ground.

Niese's teammates removed some pressure early, scoring twice in the second off Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels.  Eric Campbell led off the inning with a base hit and Juan Lagares doubled into the left field corner, with Campbell advancing to third.  Anthony Recker then plated Campbell with a sacrifice fly to center, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead, with Lagares taking third on the play.  Hamels pitched around Ruben Tejada, issuing a four-pitch walk, and Niese's grounder to short scored Lagares to put New York on top 2-0.

The Mets added a run in the fifth when Eric Young reached on an infield single and stole second.  Daniel Murphy grounded to short for the first out.  Hamels pitched carefully to David Wright, fell behind, and eventually walked him intentionally, putting runners on first and second.  Chris Young followed by grounding a single through the box, scoring Young to make it 3-0.  Hamels then induced Campbell to ground into an inning ending double play.

Through all of it, Niese continued to mow down the Phillies.  After retiring the first nine batters of the game, he issued the four-pitch walk to Gwynn, and then retired the succeeding 18 hitters in a row.  After the base on balls, Niese never reached a three-ball count for the duration of the contest.

Niese's no-hitter comes just two days after Julio Teheran of the Atlanta Braves tossed nine innings of hitless ball at the Chicago Cubs, only to see the game enter extra innings when the Braves failed to score in the first nine.  Teheran ultimately lost the no-hitter in the tenth and received a no-decision in a game the Braves eventually won in 12 innings.

5/11/2014, Phi14-NYN14, Citi Field
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
2014 Phillies          0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     0  0  1     1  1
2014 Mets              0  2  0  0  1  0  0  0  x     3  6  0     8  0
 
Phillies             AB  R  H BI   AVG    Mets                 AB  R  H BI   AVG
Gwynn             cf  2  0  0  0  .173    Young,E           lf  4  1  1  0  .194
 Ruiz             ph  1  0  0  0  .375    Murphy,Dan        2b  4  0  0  0  .304
Rollins           ss  3  0  0  0  .224    Wright,D          3b  3  0  1  0  .240
Utley             2b  3  0  0  0  .259    Young,CB          rf  3  0  1  1  .269
Howard            1b  3  0  0  0  .174    Campbell          1b  3  1  1  0  .250
Byrd              rf  3  0  0  0  .201    Lagares           cf  3  1  2  0  .244
Brown,D           lf  3  0  0  0  .202    Recker            c   3  0  0  1  .206
Nieves            c   3  0  0  0  .172    Tejada            ss  3  0  0  0  .250
Asche             3b  3  0  0  0  .286    Niese             p   2  0  0  1  .222
Hamels            p   2  0  0  0  .222                         28  3  6  3
 Garcia,Lu        p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Mayberry         ph  1  0  0  0  .175
                     27  0  0  0
 
Phillies                         INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Hamels           L 1-2           7.0  6  3  3  3  6 112  75  5.26
Garcia,Lu                        1.0  0  0  0  1  2  20  11  3.60
                                 8.0  6  3  3  4  8 132  86
 
Mets                             INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Niese            W 3-1           9.0  0  0  0  1  5  94  63  2.51
                                 9.0  0  0  0  1  5  94  63
 
Phi: Mayberry batted for Garcia,Lu in the 9th
     Ruiz batted for Gwynn in the 9th
 
E-Utley. 2B-Lagares 2(6). RBI-Young,CB(11), Recker(6), Niese(1).
SB-Young,E(11). K-Gwynn, Howard, Asche 2, Hamels, Young,E, Young,CB, Lagares,
Recker 2, Tejada 2, Niese. BB-Gwynn, Wright,D, Campbell, Tejada, Niese.
SH-Lagares. SF-Recker. HBP-Young,CB. HB-Hamels.
GWRBI: Recker
Temperature: 68, Sky: clear, Wind: in from right at 11 MPH.
Attendance: 32,583
Game Time: 2:11