4 of the 8 times the NY Mets were no-hit came under the same circumstance

The New York Mets have been no-hit 8 times in the team’s history, first in 1962 against Sandy Koufax and most recently against the Washington Nationals with Max Scherzer on the mound at the tail end of the 2015 season.

It’s the Scherzer game that hints at the uniqueness of half of these no-hitters thrown against the Mets. On that October 3rd Saturday, the Mets had two games to play. That’s the case for three of the other no-hitters pitched against the Mets.

Of the 8 times the Mets were no-hit, half came during a doubleheader

The June 21, 1964 perfect game by Jim Bunning was the first game of a doubleheader. More than a no-hitter, the Mets dropped both games to the Philadelphia Phillies on that day. They managed just 2 runs on 3 hits in the second half.

The next no-hitter thrown against them on a day with two games to play came on October 2, 1972. The Montreal Expos’ Bill Stoneman went all 9 and held the Mets hitters hopeless. A far less inferior Mets lineup than the one in 1964, they managed to win the second game of the day 2-1. A second inning single broke up the no-hitter. They’d score a run in the 8th and another in the 9th to scrape away a victory.

Not many years later, on August 24, 1975, the second game of a doubleheader versus the San Francisco Giants resulted in a no-hit performance against the Mets. Ed Halicki started this game. The 9-5 victory earlier in the day made it more palatable.

Finally, there was the Scherzer game. The Mets lost the opener 3-1. Scherzer held them back from redemption with a 2-0 victory for Washington. The season concluded the next day with a 1-0 win where a Curtis Granderson solo home run in the 8th created the only scoring of the day. This was, amazingly, the second time that year the Mets were held hitless. It didn't stop them from a National League Pennant.

0-4 in the games where they didn’t have a hit (it's not impossible to win without one), they split the others with losses against the Phillies and Nationals but wins versus the Expos and Giants. 

It’s still strange to think how half of the no-hitters pitched against the Mets were a part of a doubleheader. It makes sense, though. Several starters will sit one of the two games. The exhaustion of the game one grind or maybe the holding back of knowing there’s another to play can undoubtedly change how a hitter approaches his at-bats.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow