Mets 8 – Angels 0
ANAHEIM – Steve Trachsel was raised in the shadow of the Big A, often riding his bike past the home of former Angel cornerstone Brian Downing with his neighborhood buddies.
“I grew up in this ballpark since the third grade,” Trachsel said.
Yesterday, Trachsel pitched as if he owned the place.
The 32-year-old right-hander tossed the 24th one-hitter in Met history – and the second of his career – before a sellout crowd of 43,721 that included at least 20 of his close friends and family. In the 8-0 victory over the Angels, Trachsel walked four and just missed history because of a two-out opposite-field single in the sixth by pesky Anaheim shortstop David Eckstein.
“That’s a heckuva lineup they’ve got,” manager Art Howe said. “He should feel very proud of the job he did today. He earned it.”
Rookie shortstop Jose Reyes provided the early spark and collected some personal history with a second-inning grand slam, the first homer of his major league career. Reyes finished 3-for-4 with five RBIs and his first career stolen base. Jeromy Burnitz added two homers.
Trachsel hurled a one-hitter on May 13, 1996, against Houston while he was with the Cubs. He recalled yesterday being similar to that game, when he believed Brian Hunter led off the game with a double.
Trachsel, who had lost his previous two starts against Milwaukee and Texas, allowing 11 earned runs in 71/3 innings, had only pitched at Edison International Field one other time. He allowed five earned runs over seven innings in a loss.
“I’m not disappointed. I wasn’t even thinking about it,” Trachsel said of the no-hitter. “It was way too early. Maybe the eighth or ninth inning [you begin anticipating it].
“With that lineup, you just try to get one out at a time. The worst thing in the world is to go out and give up seven runs in two innings with your entire family and friends sitting in the stands.”
Trachsel (5-4) said he lived “10 minutes away” and spent Saturday afternoon with his folks. He reminisced about his childhood after dominating the defending World Series champs, who scored 13 runs the previous game.
“We knew where Brian Downing lived, so we used to ride our bikes by his house all the time,” Trachsel said. “It was cool.
“He had a batting cage in his backyard. He had a Porsche and a convertible Volkswagen Beetle in his driveway.”
At the beginning of the game, it didn’t seem like he 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 on the backhand and found Reyes at the second-base bag before getting back to first in time.
Eckstein broke up the no-hitter with two outs in the sixth, slicing a 1-and-2 curveball into right. Roger Cedeno was charged with an error for allowing the ball to get by him and allowing Eckstein to reach third.
“It was a strike,” Trachsel said. “It was supposed to be in the dirt. It was a good piece of hitting.”
Joked catcher Vance Wilson: “If it was a little further down, he’d probably be buying me a Rolex with ‘No-hitter’ engraved. [Trachsel] got lucky.”
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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
