Mets 8 – Angels 0
ANAHEIM – Jose Reyes collected a personal milestone yesterday, but Steve Trachsel just missed out on history of a different sort.
Reyes, the 20-year-old rookie shortstop, stroked the first homer of his major-league career, smashing a second-inning grand slam that put the Mets well on the way to an 8-0 victory over the Angels.
Trachsel, who grew up 10 minutes away from Edison International Field, hurled the 24th one-hitter in Met history, taking a no-hitter into the sixth. Trachsel earned the second one-hitter of his career before a sellout crowd of 43,721 that included friends and family.
Trachsel was just a bit less than perfect, walking four men. With two outs in the sixth, leadoff hitter David Eckstein stroked an opposite-field single to right.
Trachsel hurled a one-hitter on May 13, 1996, against Houston while he was with the Cubs. But he shared the day with Reyes, who finished 3-for-4 with five RBIs and also earned his first career stolen base. Jeromy Burnitz smashed two homers but, in hockey terms, only earned the game’s No. 3 star.
Burnitz was later hit in the eighth, and Trachsel then stuck up for his teammate by throwing behind Bengie Molina, which prompted warnings to both benches. That might have been Trachsel’s most memorable pitch.
At the beginning of the game, it didn’t seem like Trachsel (5-4) had no-hit stuff. He walked leadoff hitter Eckstein on four pitches, and Eckstein stole second before Tim Salmon drew a one-out walk.
But then a nifty double play on a Garret Anderson grounder allowed Trachsel to escape trouble. Second baseman Roberto Alomar immediately flipped to Reyes, who gunned out Anderson.
In the second inning, Trachsel walked Brad Fullmer but got away with it because first baseman Jason Phillips turned an excellent 3-6-3 twin killing on Scott Spiezio. Phillips short-hopped a line shot and found Reyes at second bag before getting back to first in time.
But Eckstein broke up the no- hitter with two outs in the sixth, slicing a 1-and-2 off-speed offering over Alomar’s head and into right. Roger Cedeno, who may be relegated to the bench beginning tonight, misplayed the single, failing to field it after the second hop as Eckstein reached third. Cedeno’s error notwithstanding, Trachsel preserved the shutout by inducing a pop out from Jeff DaVanon.
The reason the Mets didn’t recall Reyes sooner – and initially didn’t envision him sticking in the big leagues after this two-week cup of coffee – is patience. They don’t want to rush him, but mainly they want the switch-hitter to be more selective at the plate. Yesterday, Reyes showed patience during a 10-pitch at-bat versus Angels lefty Jarrod Washburn that culminated in the grand slam.
Reyes took a ball and two called strikes before fouling off two pitches. He then took two close pitches for balls, including a borderline 2-and-2 pitch that had the home crowd groaning, before fouling off two more Washburn offerings.
Finally, he found something he could handle – an 88 MPH fastball. Reyes pulled it down the left-field line, and it kept carrying as Garret Anderson tracked back and looked up. The ball stayed fair and landed several rows into the seats as Reyes took in the moment, keeping his right fist raised as he rounded second.
Phillips, Vance Wilson and Tsuyoshi Shinjo waited for him at home as he made his fast jog, and he received their congratulations before comically running past them and into the dugout. He was the second Met to smash a grand slam as his first major-league homer. Pitcher Jack Hamilton was the other, back on May 20, 1967.
Reyes also singled in the fifth and then stole his first career base.
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METS COMPLETE GAME ONE-HITTER
date/pitcher/opponent/score
June 22, 1962/Al Jackson/Houston/Won, 2-0
May 4, 1966/Jack Hamilton/at St. Louis/Won, 8-0
July 9, 1969/Tom Seaver/Chicago/Won, 4-0
April 18, 1970/Nolan Ryan/Philadelphia/Won, 7-0
May 13, 1970/Gary Gentry/at Chicago/Won, 4-0
May 15, 1970/Tom Seaver/at Philadelphia/Won, 4-0
April 18, 1971/Gary Gentry/Pittsburgh/Won, 5-2
September 26, 1971/Tom Seaver/Pittsburgh/Won, 3-1
July 4, 1972/Tom Seaver/San Diego/Won, 2-0
July 10, 1973/Jon Matlack/Houston/Won, 1-0
June 29, 1974/Jon Matlack/St. Louis/Won, 4-0
April 17, 1977/Tom Seaver/Chicago/Won, 6-0
October 1, 1982/Terry Leach/at Philadelphia/Won, 1-0 (10)
September 7, 1984/Dwight Gooden/Chicago/Won, 10-0
August 29, 1988/David Cone/San Diego/Won, 6-0
September 10, 1991/Pete Schourek/Montreal/Won, 9-0
September 20, 1991/David Cone/St. Louis/Won, 1-0
October 8, 2000/Bobby J. Jones/San Francisco/Won, 4-0
April 26, 2002/Shawn Estes/Milwaukee/Won, 1-0
June 15, 2003/Steve Trachsel/at Anaheim/Won, 8-0
