john maine

NEW YORK (AFP) ― New York Mets starter John Maine came tantalizingly close to a no-hitter on Saturday, but it remains to be seen if his gem will help the Mets avoid a monumental collapse.

Maine came within four outs of the first no-hitter in the 46-year history of the franchise before Paul Hoover reached on an infield single as the Mets routed the Florida Marlins 13-0 in a game that featured two benches-clearing incidents in the fifth inning.

The Mets won for just the fifth time in 16 games and temporarily moved within one-half game of the first-place Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East.

The Phillies hosted the Washington Nationals later on Saturday. Both the Mets and Phillies conclude their regular season on Sunday.

The Mets, who led the division by seven games on September 12, fell out of first place Friday for the first time in over four months and is trying to avoid one of the greatest collapses in baseball history.

For at least an hour, the division race took a back seat to the 25-year-old Maine, who had the longest no-hit bid by a Met since Tom Glavine went 7 2/3 innings against Colorado on May 23, 2004.

Maine's bid ended when Hoover hit a ball that rolled up the third base line before David Wright picked up without throwing. Ironically, Hoover had entered the game for Miguel Olivo after the Marlins catcher was ejected for his role in the fifth inning melee.

Maine walked two struck out 14, the most by a Met since Al Leiter fanned 15 against Chicago on August 1, 1999.

Maine struck out seven straight batters spanning the second and fourth innings, the first Met to fan seven in a row since Leiter against Arizona on August 23, 1998.

Once the no-hit bid was ended, Maine, who won for the first time in five starts, was lifted after throwing 115 pitches

Willie Collazzo recorded the final out of the eighth and Carlos Muniz pitched the ninth, finishing off the Mets' third one-hitter of the season. The other two were rain shortened.

The Marlins' lone base runner in the first six innings was Dan Uggla, who walked and was caught stealing as Jeremy Hermida struck out in the first.

Lastings Milledge hit a pair of home runs for the Mets, who banged out 19 hits and snapped an eight-game home losing streak.

Ill-feeling surfaced in the fifth, after Millege connected off Harvey Garcia in the fifth for his second homer of the game.

Garcia appeared to take exception to an excessive home run celebration by Milledge when he threw pitch behind Luis Castillo that went to the backstop.

Castillo took a few steps toward the mound and both benches emptied before order was restored.

The problem escalated when the Marlins made a pitching change following a walk to Castillo. Olivo was at the pitcher's mound when he got into a shouting match with Jose Reyes, who was at third base.

Both benches emptied again as Reyes and Olivo engaged in a shoving match near third with Mets coach Sandy Alomar snr getting stuck in the middle.

The melee spilled over toward the third base line, with Olivo the only individual ejected
Flushing, NY (Sports Network) - John Maine took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and Lastings Milledge belted a pair of home runs, as the Mets showed some life with a 13-0 victory over the Florida Marlins, and moved back into a tie atop the National League East.

The victory, combined with Philadelphia's 4-2 home loss to Washington, moved the Mets into a tie with one game remaining in the regular season. Tom Glavine will pitch for the Mets Sunday, while Florida goes with Dontrelle Willis. Should the Mets and Phillies finish in a tie atop the division with just one postseason spot available for each team, there would be a one-game playoff in Philadelphia on Monday.

The Mets fell into second place in the division on Friday night after their fifth straight loss and looked listless in doing so, but they got a dominating performance from Maine and rapped out 19 hits in a game that also featured a benches-clearing incident.

The Mets are also still alive in the wild card hunt, but need San Diego to lose Saturday at Milwaukee or the division championship will be the only way to enter the postseason.

"We're still breathing, we still have a chance," said Mets manager Willie Randolph. "I feel good about our chances, but we need a little help."

Maine (15-10) struck out 14 batters, including seven in a row at one point, and finished with 7 2/3 innings of one-hit ball with a pair of walks to win for the first time in five starts. The Mets have never thrown a no-hitter.

"John was amazing," Randolph added. "That's what's been hurting us the past few weeks, pitching. When you get a game like that, it makes it easier. John really stepped up for us. He was on today and we needed it."

Florida's lone hit came with two outs in the eighth, as Paul Hoover chopped a 1-2 pitch from Maine up the third-base line for an infield single.

The Mets battered Florida starter Chris Seddon (0-2) for five runs on seven hits in just 1 2/3 innings.

New York got a pair of two-out hits to take the first-inning lead. After Luis Castillo doubled with one out and advanced to third on a single by David Wright, Carlos Beltran lined out. Moises Alou, though, grounded a single up the middle to score Castillo and Carlos Delgado drove home Wright with a base hit to center.

Milledge started the second with a base hit and reached third on a pair of outs, but Castillo singled to center to make it 3-0. Wright then drew a walk and Beltran singled home a run to chase Seddon in favor of Ross Wolf, who gave up another RBI base hit to Alou.

New York tacked on three more in the third. Ramon Castro led off with a single and Milledge followed with his sixth homer of the season. Maine then drew a walk, took second on an out and scored on a ground-rule double by Castillo to make it 8-0.

The Mets went down quietly in the fourth, but things got ugly in the fifth after Milledge led off the inning with his second homer of the game and apparently did a little too much celebrating for the Marlins.

After Maine struck out and Jose Reyes doubled, Castillo was nearly hit by a Harvey Garcia wild pitch that moved Reyes to third. Castillo pointed toward the mound with his bat and the benches emptied, but no punches were thrown, and he eventually drew a walk before the Marlins decided to make another pitching change.

While on the mound, Florida catcher Miguel Olivo jawed with Reyes at third base and raced toward third as the benches emptied for a second time. Olivo tried to throw a punch and was ejected.

"I just thought he was kidding with me because he is a good friend of mine," said Reyes about the incident with Olivo. "When he went to the mound, he said 'You want to fight,' so I said 'Yes.' I thought he was kidding with me, but he came after me...so that's what happened."

After things settled down, Wright singled home Reyes for a 10-0 cushion.

Castro homered in the sixth, Delgado singled home another run in the seventh and David Newhan drove home a run with a base hit in the eighth to account for the final margin.

Maine was brilliant. After issuing a walk to Dan Uggla with one out in the first, he struck out Jeremy Hermida and Uggla was thrown out trying to steal. His strikeout streak started with the final two batters of the second and ended when Hermida flied to left in the fourth.

The only other batter to reach base against Maine before the infield single in the eighth was Uggla, who walked with one out in the seventh. After Hoover's base hit, Maine was lifted and left the field to a standing ovation.

"We needed a win today," said Maine. "Pitching, defense and hitting. We were running on all cylinders today. We came out and did what we had to do today."


Game Notes

Castillo, Wright and Milledge each had three hits for the Mets...Milledge recorded his first career multi-homer game...Maine's 14 strikeouts were the most for a Met since Al Leiter had 15 on August 11, 1999 against the Chicago Cubs.

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- John Maine took a no-hitter into the eighth inning as the New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins 13-0 one day after losing their division lead.

Maine came within four outs of the first no-hitter in franchise history before catcher Paul Hoover singled with two outs in the eighth at Shea Stadium. Maine finished with 14 strikeouts, and Lastings Milledge hit two home runs as the Mets snapped a five-game losing streak.

New York had a seven-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League's Eastern Division on Sept. 12 before losing 11 of 15 games. With today's win, the Mets are now a half-game behind the first-place Phillies, who host the Washington Nationals later.

A loss by the Mets today would have eliminated them from contention for the NL's wild card playoff berth, which goes to the division runner-up with the best record.

The San Diego Padres can clinch the wild card spot with a win today in Milwaukee. Major League Baseball's regular season ends tomorrow.

The Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees have clinched spots in the American League playoffs, while the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs claimed berths in the NL. The Phillies, Mets, Padres and Colorado Rockies are competing for the final two NL spots.
John Maine already is looking at Saturday's start against the Marlins as a playoff game. For Maine, that's probably a good thing. The sooner he can forget about his disappointing second half, the better, and he has pleasant memories of last October to draw from.

Thrust into the postseason rotation a year ago because of injuries, Maine allowed one run in 9 2/3 innings in his two starts and pitched the Mets to a crucial Game 6 win in the NLCS. In that sense, Maine knows what it's like to be backed into a corner and have the weight of a season on your shoulders. Like a playoff game.

"It does feel like that," he said.



Except for the surprising lack of fans at Shea this past week. While the announced paid attendance usually was above 50,000, the stadium has been only half-full, which is odd for a team fighting for its playoff life. That should change this weekend, but the players have noticed the empty seats.

"I thought there would be more people at the games," Maine said, "but [Thursday] night they made some noise."

Maine has pitched to a 3.74 ERA at Shea this season, as compared to a 4.39 ERA on the road. But his numbers for the second half are not so good, and September has been terrible. Maine is 4-6 with a 4.39 ERA since the All-Star break and 0-2 with an 8.34 ERA in his four September starts.

If anyone can benefit from Willie Randolph's mantra of "turning the page," it's Maine, and the Mets' postseason fate hangs in the balance.

"There's only three games left," Maine said Friday. "It's going to be tough."

Not as difficult as thinking about it all winter if the Mets don't make the playoffs.



Extra bases

With Oliver Perez, Maine and Tom Glavine starting this weekend, the Mets would have to cobble together a starter-by-committee for a possible playoff game Monday. The best option would be a trio of Pedro Martinez, Orlando Hernandez and Mike Pelfrey, but that will hinge on how much El Duque is used out of the bullpen. ... Ramon Castro homered off Byung-Hyun Kim last Saturday, but manager Willie Randolph started Paul Lo Duca Friday night. "I didn't consider [Castro] at all," Randolph said. "I'm going with my best players right now." ... Endy Chavez had to leave the team abruptly because of the passing of his sister, Janeidy, 29, who had a lengthy illness. He returned to Venezuela for the funeral.