Carlos Delgado launched a fastball over the right-centerfield fence for his ninth homer of the month Tuesday night the help the New York Mets defeat the Florida Marlins 4-1.

Delgado’s RBIs provided the Mets with a little breathing room, as the game-winning run actually came two innings earlier when Carlos Beltran singled home Nick Evans in the sixth.

Starter Oliver Perez had a little trouble getting his breaking balls over but pitched a solid game, giving up one earned run, five hits and three walks over six innings. He struck out five.

Jose Reyes (3-for-5) led off the game with a double but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. His hit was followed by back-to-back doubles by Evans and David Wright to get the Mets on board with a run.

The sole Marlins run came in the bottom half of the first after Perez gave up a double to Jorge Cantu, which extended our NoNoHitters.com count to 7,427 Mets games without a no hitter. It was followed by a Josh Willingham double to tie the game at one.

A pair of walks got reliever Aaron Heilman into a bit of trouble in the seventh as he was trying to paint the corners for an umpire who wasn’t budging on that part of the strike zone. But Heilman settled down to get through the seventh unscathed and struck out three in the eighth to set up closer Billy Wagner.

Wagner pitched a perfect ninth for his 27th save.

The win extended the Mets’ lead over the Marlins to two games, but the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 2-1 Tuesday night to remain a half game back in the National League East division.

The rubber game of the series is Wednesday night, with Mike Pelfrey getting the ball for the Mets and Josh Johnson scheduled to go for the Fish.

The Florida Marlins scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning Monday night to beat the New York Mets 7-3 and remind the N.L. East that this is more than a two team race.

John Maine pitched well, but lasted just 4 1/3 innings after being pulled in the fifth with a stiff shoulder.

After the Marlins tied the game at 2, the Mets manufactured the go-ah ead run in the top of the eighth thanks to a smart baserunning play by David Wright. With the shift on for Carlos Delgado, Wright took an unoccupied third base on a fielder’s choice. Then, after the Marlins issued an intentional walk to Carlos Beltran, Wright scored on what appeared to be a double-play ball hit by Fernando Tatis. Tatis raced toward first, but the throw went wide and Wright scored.

Then Joe Smith and Scott Schoenweis combined to blow the game, allowing five runs on six hits. Net result: Florida is one game back; Philadelphia is a 1/2 game back.

Maine lost his no-hitter bid in the first inning when Jorge Cantu hit a ball just shy of Tatis for a single. That makes it 7,426 New York Mets games without a single no-hitter.

Johan Santana pitched a six-hit complete game and his teammates supported him with 17 hits Sunday as the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-1.

Everyone in the Mets starting lineup got at least one hit, including Santana who went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
David Wright went 3-for-5 with his 20th homer of the season, and Fernando Tatis continued his tear with a pair of doubles and his seventh homer. Raul Castro also homered Sunday.

The only Cardinals run came in the seventh when Albert Pujols knocked a Santana pitch over the left center field wall for his 20th homer of the season. Ryan Ludwick nearly had a homer the previous batter but was robbed at the fence by Carlos Beltran.

Santana took a no-hitter into the fifth inning but gave up a leadoff single to Troy Glaus to bump our NoNoHitters.com count up to 7,425 games without a New York Mets no hitter.

The New York Mets have never had a no hitter, but Mets pitchers have reached the fifth inning without yielding a hit 258 times during the team’s 46-plus years of existence. (See our Lost Mets no-hitters that reached at least the fifth inning page for more details)

* Here’s the statistical breakdown of the Mets deepest failed no-nos:

• 154 potential Mets no-hitters were broken up in the fifth
• 64 potential Mets no-hitters were broken up in the sixth
• 22 potential Mets no-hitters were broken up in the seventh
• 15 potential Mets no-hitters were broken up in the eighth
• 3 potential Mets no-hitters were broken up in the ninth

*Some Information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at www.retrosheet.org.

Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer in the top of the 14th inning Saturday night to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 10-8 win over the New York Mets, who now hold just a one-game lead in the N.L. East on the Philadelphia Phillies.

With Pedro Martinez home in the Dominican Republic to attend his dad’s funeral, the Mets gave the ball to Brandon Knight, an emergency call-up from the AAA New Orleans Zephyrs.

Knight got into trouble early, giving up four runs on three hits, a walk and a hit batsman in the top of the first inning. But he settled down to give the Mets four strong innings and allow the team to climb back into the game and take a 5-4 lead.

St. Louis scored four runs in the sixth to retake the lead, but the Mets crawled back again to send the game into extra innings.

With both the Mets bench and bullpen spent, Aaron Heilman was forced to pitch a third inning in the 14th and Pujols (5-for-8, 3 runs scored, 3 RBIs) got the best of him, knocking the ball over the left field wall. The Mets unfortunately didn’t have a third comeback in them.

Carlos Delgado hit a pair of homers and Jose Reyes went 4-for-8 with two doubles and a solo home run. Fernando Tatis (3-for-5, 2 RBIs) hit a clutch homer in the bottom of the ninth to force a little more baseball (The game would wind up topping five hours).

Knight lost his chance at the first New York Mets’ no-hitter on the first batter when he gave up a leadoff single to Skip Schumaker, who wound up going 6-for-7 on the night. It was the 906th Mets game that began with a leadoff hit by the opponent, and the 681st potential no-hitter broken up by a single.

Mike Pelfrey threw seven strong innings and Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and Argenis Reyes drove in two runs each Friday night as the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2.

The win - combined with the Phillies’ loss to Atlanta - gives the Mets a two-game lead in the National League East.

David Wright broke a scoreless tie in the third with a line-drive double down the left field line to score Endy Chavez (3-for-4). The next inning, Jose Reyes (2-for-5) just missed clearing the right-center field fence with a two-RBI triple.

In the fifth, Delgado knocked a two-run blast into the scoreboard for his 20th homer of the season, and Argenis Reyes singled home Carlos Beltran for the Mets’ sixth run. Argenis made it seven in the seventh with his first Major League home run, a shot to the deep part of Shea in right-center.

Pelfrey gave up just one earned run, seven hits and one walk while throwing five strikeouts (three of them to Albert Pujols). He lost his no hitter in the first when Ryan Ludwick singled to left, increasing our NoNoHitters.com count to 7,423 games without a New York Mets no hitter.

Joe Smith took care of business in the eighth inning, and Pedro Feliciano and Aaron Heilman cleaned up a bases-loaded mess in the ninth left by Duaner Sanchez. giving the Mets the win.

The New York Mets’ magic number is 60.

OK, so maybe it’s a little early to be talking magic numbers - especially in light of last season’s finish - but the Mets did grab sole possession of first place in the National League East Thursday afternoon with a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Oliver Perez threw 7 2/3 strong innings of one-run ball while striking out 12, keeping it tied until Carlos Delgado put the Mets out front with a two-out, two-run double in the eighth.

Billy Wagner again got the save, but the win went to Aaron Heilman, who pitched to just one batter but got Jayson Werth to fly out to center to end the eighth.

Perez lost his bid for the first New York Mets no hitter in the first inning when Pat Burrell singled to left, putting the “tragic number” - a k a our NoNoHitters.com count - at 7,422 games.

Jose Reyes’ 11th homer of the season broke a 3-3 deadlock and led the Mets to a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies and another share of the N.L. East lead.

The Mets managed to score two runs in the first without a hit thanks to four walks and a mishandled groundout to first that should have been a double-play. But the Phils fired back in the top of the second when starter John Maine gave up back-to-back homers to Shane Victorino and Geoff Jenkins. The first of those homers bumped our NoNoHitters.com count up to 7,421 games without a New York Mets no-hitter.

Maine settled down and went seven innings, giving up three runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

The Mets loaded the bases again in the third inning and took the lead on a Damion Easley infield hit to short, but the Phillies rallied back to tie the game at 3 on a Jimmy Rollins double to right-center.

Easley started a sixth-inning rally with another infield hit, which was followed by a Brian Schneider single and the Reyes home run.

Easley tried to jump-start another rally in the seventh with his third infield hit of the night. But after Schneider doubled, pinch hitter Fernando Tatis grounded out and Reyes reached base on an intentional walk, Endy Chavez ended the inning on a ground out.

The Mets once again failed to get any insurance runs in the eighth despite having two runners in scoring position, so instead of turning to last night’s bullpen-by-committee approach they opted for closer Billy Wager.

Wagner shut the door, and the Mets are back tied for first.

When your ace starting pitcher gives you eight solid innings and leaves you up 5-2 in the ninth, you’re pretty much expecting a happy blog post.

But with Billy Wagner suffering from shoulder muscle spasms, the Mets bullpen gave up six ninth-inning runs to squander a more than win-worthy performance by Johan Santana.

This is not the way to start a three-game series with your co-N.L. East leaders … or should I say former co-N.L. East leaders, as the Mets are now a game back

Pat Burrell’s single to left in the first killed Santana’s no-hitter bid, marking the 7,420th time a Mets pitcher has failed in that department. One positive is that Santana surpassed 1,500 career strikeouts.

Not much more to say about this game

The Philadelphia Phillies will enter Shea Stadium Tuesday with only a share of the N.L. East lead.

The New York Mets scored two unearned runs in the top of the tenth Sunday to beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-5. Meanwhile, back in Miami, the Marlins’ Jorge Cantu hit a walkoff single in the 11th to beat the Phils. The two ad up to a Mets-Phillies tie heading into their three-game series beginning Tuesday night in New York.

Mets starter Mike Pelfrey gave up three home runs in his outing. The first of those, an Adam Dunn blast to right to leadoff the second inning, advanced our NoNoHitters.com count to 7,419 games without a New York Mets no hitter.

The Mets left 14 runners on the basepaths during the night, but they took advantage of an Edwin Encarnacion error to pull out a well-needed win.

Bring on the Phils.

The New York Mets wasted 10 hits by grounding into three double-plays, the heart of the batting order stranded the bases loaded and the bullpen reverted to its early-season ways Saturday night as the Mets lost to the Cincinnati Reds 7-2.

Starter Oliver Perez wasn’t stellar, but he pitched decent enough to give his team a chance. He lasted six innings, striking out six batters while giving up six hits, three walks and three runs (two of them earned).

The Mets, down 3-2 in the seventh, rallied to load the bases, but the effort came to an abrupt halt when David Wright and Carlos Beltran each struck out looking. The Reds responded in the bottom half of the seventh by beating up on the Mets’ bullpen with four runs to put the game away.

Perez lost his no-hitter in the first inning when Jeff Keppinger singled to left center to bump our count to 7,418 Mets games without a no-hitter.

It was the Mets’ second straight loss after winning the previous 10 games. Fortunately the Phillies lost to the Marlins, so the Mets remain a game back in the National League East.