Log In


Reset Password
  • MENU
    Pro Sports
    Wednesday, April 24, 2024

    Harang pulled with no-hitter, Braves beat Mets 6-0

    New York Mets' Andrew Brown reacts after striking out during the seventh inning of Friday's game against Atlanta at Citi Field. The Braves won, 6-0.

    New York — Aaron Harang threw no-hit ball for seven innings but was pulled after 121 pitches, and reliever Luis Avilan gave up David Wright's two-out single in the eighth as the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 6-0 Friday night.

    As Harang's pitch count increased on a chilly evening, it seemed doubtful manager Fredi Gonzalez would let him go the distance. Harang worked around six walks, including two in the sixth inning and another pair in the seventh.

    Harang (3-1) left for a pinch hitter during a long, four-run eighth. He was never in the on-deck circle - the decision had already been made that he was done.

    Jordan Walden completed the combined one-hitter.

    The Mets hit few balls hard against the resurgent Harang, who lowered his ERA to an NL-best 0.70. The closest they came to a hit off the 35-year-old right-hander was actually on a check-swing tapper by Travis d'Arnaud in the second inning.

    Second baseman Dan Uggla charged, snapped a throw and d'Arnaud was called out. Television replays appeared to show d'Arnaud might've been safe with an infield hit, and manager Terry Collins discussed the call with first base umpire Eric Cooper. But Collins didn't challenge it because Lucas Duda, who had been on first, tried to advance to third and was easily beaten by first baseman Freddie Freeman's return throw.

    Wright spoiled the combo no-hit bid with a clean single to left field.

    The 6-foot-7 Harang took a no-hit try into the seventh inning for the second time this year. He did it in his season debut, giving up a leadoff single in the seventh at Milwaukee. He has never pitched a no-hitter in 13 major league seasons.

    Harang struck out five. He fanned pinch hitter Andrew Brown with runners at first and second with his final pitch, protecting a 1-0 lead.

    Harang finished up last season with the Mets, then was let go by Cleveland in spring training.

    He kept up the Braves' recent run of stellar pitching. Julio Teheran beat Philadelphia 1-0 on Wednesday and Alex Wood lost to the Phillies 1-0 Thursday.

    The Mets had their three-game winning streak snapped.

    Freeman hit his fifth homer, a two-run shot in the eighth.

    The Braves got a run on a strange sequence that began with a double by Uggla — Justin Upton was thrown out at home on the play, but Uggla headed to third and scored when d'Arnaud threw wildly into left field. Jordan Schafer added an RBI double beyond the reach of right fielder Curtis Granderson.

    Chris Johnson hit an RBI double off Jonathon Niese (0-2) in the second for a 1-0 lead.

    • New York traded slumping first baseman Ike Davis to the Pittsburgh on Friday night, parting ways with a power hitter who proved to be too inconsistent at the plate.

    Pittsburgh sent minor league right-hander Zack Thornton and a player to be named to New York for the 27-year-old Davis.

    The Mets announced the deal just minutes before they played Atlanta. Davis was on the field during batting practice earlier in the day.

    "Hopefully this is a move that solves our first base needs for years to come," he said.

    The lefty-swinging Davis hit 32 homers for the Mets in 2012, but fell off sharply last year.

    "Obviously, I didn't play as well as I should have," he said.

    Davis was hitting .208 with one home run and five RBIs in 24 at-bats. He lost his starting job to Lucas Duda and was relegated to a part-time role with the Mets, who also have Josh Satin at first base.

    "You can't play a major league season with three first basemen, so one of us had to go," Davis said outside the Mets' clubhouse after the game started.

    Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said the team decided several months ago to trade Davis.

    "We are happy for Ike and it was a situation we needed to resolve," Alderson said.

    "I would not say that we lost patience with Ike. At some point you have to make a decision about players on the roster, so we simply had to make a choice."

    The Mets filled Davis' roster spot by activating outfielder Chris Young from the 15-day disabled list. He started in center field.

    • RHP Ervin Santana (1-0, 0.64 ERA) starts for Atlanta today vs. RHP Bartolo Colon (1-2, 6.00). Colon has been having back trouble, and Collins said Daisuke Matsuzaka needed to be ready in case the problem flares up. ... Kent Mercker pitched the Braves' last no-hitter in 1994.

    Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.