NEW YORK — — Atlanta’s Max Fried and two relievers combined for a no-hitter through 8 2/3 innings before New York’s J.D. Martinez homered to spoil the bid as the Braves beat the Mets 4-1 on Saturday.
Fried opened with seven no-hit innings and Joe Jiménez worked around a pair of walks in the eighth before Raisel Iglesias retired the first two batters of the ninth. Martinez homered just over the wall in right field on the next pitch off Iglesias, who walked Jeff McNeil and allowed an infield single to Harrison Bader before retiring Brett Baty on a fly to center.
The Braves have not thrown a no-hitter since Kent Mercker’s gem against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 8, 1994. The no-hitter drought is the fourth-longest in the majors.
The Braves have the second-most wins and second-lowest ERA in baseball since 1994, a span in which Hall of Famers Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz pitched for the team.
Fried walked three over the first seven innings, throwing 109 pitches, one shy of his career high. The 30-year-old left-hander retired the first eight batters he faced before issuing consecutive walks to Tomas Nido and Brandon Nimmo. He then set down 11 straight before walking Pete Alonso with one out in the seventh.
Martinez followed and came closest — to that point — to ending the no-hit bid with a deep fly to center, where Michael Harris II drifted back and caught the ball at the wall. Fried struck out Jeff McNeil to end the seventh and was done for the day.
Orlando Arcia hit a two-run homer and Harris had three hits, including an RBI single for Atlanta.
Rookie right-hander Christian Scott (0-1), making his first home start for the Mets, gave up three runs and struck out eight in six-plus solid innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: C Sean Murphy (left oblique) feels good, but is not ready to face live pitching. Murphy was injured in the season opener March 29.
Mets: OF Brandon Nimmo (right intercostal irritation) left after the fourth inning. Nimmo was visited by a trainer during a second-inning at-bat and pointed to his right side before he took a practice swing. … LHP Brooks Raley (left elbow inflammation) is scheduled to visit Dr. Keith Meister on Tuesday. The Mets expected Raley to miss the minimum amount of time when he was placed on the injured list April 21, but he has continued to feel discomfort in his elbow. Raley said all options, including surgery, are on the table heading into the visit. … Manager Carlos Mendoza said RHP Kodai Senga (right shoulder) is battling his mechanics and may need a couple more bullpen sessions before the Mets begin planning his rehab appearances.
UP NEXT
The three-game series concludes Sunday night, when Braves RHP Bryce Elder (1-1, 5.28 ERA) starts against Mets RHP Luis Severino (2-2, 2.93 ERA).
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
