Johan Santana tosses first no-hitter in NY Mets history during 8-0 victory ... - New York Daily News

Howard Simmons/New York Daily News

Teammates pile on Johan Santana, who strikes out nine batters and walks five during Friday's historic win, after throwing the first no-hitter in Mets history.

NY METS 8, ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 0

Fans were on their feet as the ninth inning began, hoping to see history. Johan Santana warmed up calmly on the mound, but there was a current of electricity in the park. He had already thrown 122 pitches, but he was trying to do something no Met had ever done.

And then he did. Santana threw a no-hitter against the Cardinals in the Mets’ 8-0 victory in front of 27,069 at Citi Field in Carlos Beltran’s return to Queens.

That means that, finally, in their 8,020th game - including ties - in their 50th anniversary of their inaugural season, the Mets have the franchise’s very first no-hitter, ending one of the most notorious droughts in baseball history.

Santana finished the no-no with a strikeout of David Freese, sending fans into a frenzy. The Mets mobbed him at the mound afterward and the scoreboard read, simply, “No-Han.”

The no-no was not without controversy, though. Collins had talked before the game about monitoring Santana’s pitch count to take care of his surgically-repaired left shoulder and said he’d like him to be within the 110-115 range, which Santana eclipsed before the end of the eighth.

The 33-year-old Santana, who threw a shutout his last time out, was superb, though he had spates of wildness that resulted in five walks. He finished with 134 pitches, eclipsing his career high of 125 on Sept. 23, 2008 against the Mets, before the shoulder surgery that changed his career. Seventy-seven of those pitches were strikes.

Also, had third-base umpire Adrian Johnson not had a non-call on a sixth-inning liner by Beltran, Beltran wouldn’t ended the drama then. He led off the sixth inning and hit a liner down the third-base line that was clearly fair, hitting the chalk of the foul line just beyond the base. But Johnson ruled it foul.

After Beltran grounded out, Johnson and Cards’ third-base coach Jose Oquendo began arguing and St. Louis manager Mike Matheny came out of the dugout to argue with Johnson, too.

Santana’s gem also had the requisite sensational fielding play, too - left fielder Mike Baxter made a terrific running catch in the seventh inning to take a hit away from Yadier Molina. Baxter smashed into the wall moments after snagging the ball and had to come out of the game, but he got a standing ovation as trainers led him off the field. He suffered a left shoulder bruise and is undergoing further testing, the Mets said.

Tom Seaver twice got into the ninth inning with no-hitters - July 9, 1969 against the Cubs and July 4, 1972 against the Padres - but lost them both. Seven pitchers, including Seaver and Dwight Gooden, threw no-hitters after leaving the Mets and 10 pitchers threw no-nos before becoming Mets.