J.D. Martinez breaks up Braves' no-hit bid with first Mets home run with two outs in ninth
NEW YORK — The Mets were one out away from being no-hit for the first time since 2015.
J.D. Martinez ensured that they would not suffer that fate.
After the Mets were held hitless for the first 8⅔ innings, the Mets designated hitter ripped a first-pitch fastball from Braves closer Raisel Iglesias over the right-center field wall to break up the no-hit bid.
"We didn’t want to get no-hit, but in that situation, that moment, I don’t know, I’m just thinking about my plan and my game and what I’m trying to do in that at-bat and off Iglesias really," Martinez said. "You can’t get caught up in all that and then you start putting all this excess pressure on yourself. For what? Who cares? Tomorrow’s another day."
Martinez was looking for a pitch up. He got knee-high fastball and roped it for an opposite-field homer. Harrison Bader added another single in the frame, but those were the only two hits the Mets could muster as they fell short, 4-1, in front of 38,919 fans on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field.
The solo shot was Martinez's fourth hit in his last 15 at-bats. The 36-year-old, who was signed to a one-year deal in the final week of spring training, is slashing .267/.313/.378 with one home run, two doubles, three RBI and two runs in 14 games after a delayed arrival.
"At the end of the day, we lost the game. It’s a good sign from J.D," Mendoza said. "There’s a lot of positive outcomes coming from him. His at-bats the last couple of days and then today smoked two balls off (Max) Fried and then that last at-bat going the other way like that with authority. We’re gonna need him."
Max Fried dialed in for seven innings
Before Martinez's first long ball as a member of the Mets, there had been times where they hit the ball hard against the Braves' Max Fried. There were other at-bats where the Mets looked completely flummoxed by the 30-year-old right-hander.
For seven innings, nearly all of the Mets' results in their at-bats were the same.
Fried opened his start against the Mets with seven hitless innings while he only allowed a trio of walks — two in the third to Brandon Nimmo and Tomas Nido, and another to Pete Alonso in the seventh. He struck out five. Fried was removed after needing 109 pitches to get through the seven innings.
"He’s tough because you don’t know which way his ball is going to go," Martinez said. "If it’s going to come in, if it’s going to go away. If it’s going to go down, if he’s going to go up. He’s a really good pitcher. He’s successful and you can see why when you face him. It’s not a fun at-bat."
The no-hitter nearly never got off the ground. In the second inning, Pete Alonso ripped an 104.9-mph fly ball to center field. Alonso even flipped his bat, but Michael Harris II tracked it down a step from the wall.
Harris saved the no-hit effort again in the bottom of the seventh when Martinez launched a deep fly ball to straightaway center field. The Braves outfielder made the catch on the run before colliding into the wall.
It was one of five balls that exited a Mets player's bat at more than 101 mph off Fried but each was converted for an our.
"He just kept making pitches when needed," Mendoza said. "As a whole, I think it’s one of those where as the game goes, we have to make adjustments and obviously we didn’t do that today."
History avoided
It was the second outing in three games in which Fried has not allowed a hit after he held the Mariners without a hit across six innings on April 29 in Seattle.
Joe Jimenez allowed a pair of walks to Harrison Bader and DJ Stewart in the eighth, but ended the threat with back-to-back strikeouts of Tyrone Taylor and Starling Marte.
Iglesias quickly converted the first two outs of the ninth inning, striking out Francisco Lindor and getting Alonso to ground out before Martinez broke it up.
"Just thinking about my approach and my plan," Martinez said. "I’m not caught up in any of that stuff."
The Braves have not completed a no-hitter since Kent Mercker did it as a member of the 1994 team against the Dodgers on April 8, 1994. The Mets, meanwhile, have not been no-hit since Max Scherzer held them in check as a member of the Nationals back on Oct. 3, 2015, at Citi Field.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets: No-hit through eight innings vs. Braves' Max Fried, Joe Jimenez
