With their season damaged perhaps beyond repair, the Mets staged a most remarkable performance Saturday in their 161st game, replete with a lopsided victory, two benches-clearing incidents and pitching so brilliant by John Maine that the first no-hitter in Mets history and a single-game strikeout record were possible as late as the eighth inning.

Pitching from a mound that had been home to Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan and Dwight Gooden, Maine came within four outs of the achievement that still appears well beyond the capability of a franchise steeped in pitching excellence. He struck out 14 batters before a roller hit down by the third-base line by Paul Hoover with two out in the eighth inning turned him away and ended his workday.

Nonetheless, the Mets crushed the Marlins, 13-0, to move within one half-game of the first-place Phillies, pending the outcome of the Phillies' game against the Nationals in Philadelphia.

Maine (15-10) walked his second batter, Dan Uggla, but then retired 17 straight batters before walking Uggla again. Before Hoover's full-swing roller disappointed a raucous crowd of 54,675, only two batters had put the no-hitter at risk. Brett Carroll hit a line drive into the glare of the sun in relatively deep left field with two out in the sixth inning, but Moises Alou made the play. And the first out of the seventh inning was achieved when shortstop Jose Reyes threw out Robert Andino after handling a hard ground ball that had richoceted off the leg of third baseman David Wright.

Hoover was in the game only because starting catcher Miguel Olivo had been ejected for his role in an incident that occurred during a pitching in the fifth inning. The benches and bullpens cleared after Olivo rushed from the mound to third base and accosted Reyes and third-base coach Sandy Alomar, who had stepped in front of Reyes.

By then, the Mets had done most of what was necessary to end the five-game losing streak that had cost them their first-place standing, accumulating 13 of their 19 hits and 10 of their runs. Lastings Milledge hit two home runs, and Ramon Castro added one in the sixth inning.

Source:Mets.com