The Mets’ 2008 tradition of one-game win streaks and one-game losing streaks continued Thursday night with an 8-7 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Pedro Martinez struggled in the outing, lasting just five innings while giving up 5 earned runs and seven hits. He lost his no hitter on the first batter when left-fielder Skip Schumaker singled to center. That put the NoNoHitters.com count at 7,404 New York Mets games without a no hitter, and marked the 902nd time a Mets game has begun with a leadoff hit by their opponent.

Damion Easley went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs, while Jose Reyes and David Wright each added three hits

The New York Mets rallied for fine runs in the second inning Friday night to overcome an early deficit and beat the Colorado Rockies 7-2 for the team’s second straight victory.

The Mets are back at .500 and now trail the first-place Philadelphia Phillies by just 4 1/2 games.

John Maine gave up two runs in the first but settled in to yield no more. He gave up just six hits over 6 2/3 innings - starting with an opening single to left by the Rockies’ Willy Taveras. That bumped our NoNoHiitters.com count to 7,392 New York Mets games without a no hitter and marked the 901st time a potential Mets’ no hitter was killed by the first at-bat (Click here for more details.)

Joe Smith, Pedro Feliciano and Aaron Heilman finished out the game to give Maine his seventh victory of the season.

For the 900th time in franchise history, a potential New York Mets no hitter has been broken up by the first at-bat.

Chone Figgins doubled to left off Mike Pelfrey Monday night to increase the NoNoHitters.com count to 7,389 New York Mets games without a single no-no. It’s the 900th time that has happened on the first at bat, and the 675th time it has occurred with a single. (Check out our No hitters killed by first at bat for more details.)

This is happening way to often this season. Over the Mets’ previous 46 seasons, there have been an average of just over 19 no hitters broken up on the first at-bat. So far in 2008 (and we’re not even close to the All Star break yet) there have been 22! And Pelfrey has had six of them:

• May 3, 2008: In Arizona, Mike Pelfrey gives up a leadoff single to the Diamondbacks’ Chris Young.
• May 10, 2008 (Game 2 of a day-night doubleheader): In New York, Mike Pelfrey gave up a leadoff double to the Cincinnati Reds’ Ryan Freel.
• May 31, 2008: In New York, Mike Pelfrey gives up a leadoff single to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Juan Pierre
• June 5, 2008: In San Diego, Mike Pelfrey gives up a leadoff single to the Padres’ Jody Gerut
• June 12, 2008: In New York, Mike Pelfrey gives up a leadoff single to the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Chris Young
• June 16, 2008: In Anaheim, Mike Pelfrey gives up a leadoff single to the Los Angeles Angels’ Chone Figgins

Of course, Pelfrey also went the deepest this season without giving up a hit, throwing six innings of no-hit ball against the Washington Nationals on May 15.

The Mets won 9-6, but it was not enough to save the job of Manager Willie Randolph, who was let go a couple hours after the game finished.

Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning Tuesday night to lead the New York Mets to a well-needed 5-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Starter Mike Pelfrey pitched well enough to earn a win (8 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned run) but Billy Wagner blew his save opportunity in the ninth. Instead, Claudio Vargas, whose been settling well into a long relief role since Pedro Martinez’s return, got the W.

Our No hitters killed by first at bat page earned another update tonight, as Pelfrey gave up a leadoff single to Chris Young singled to center. That put the NoNoHitters.com count to 7,384 New York Mets games without a no hitter.

The New York Mets lost another 2-1 game Friday night, and again it began with a leadoff hit.

This time, Scott Hairston opened the game with a single to bump the NoNoHiiters.com count up to 7,380 New York Mets games without a no hitter. That’s 898 games that have begun with a hit, so our No hitters killed by first at bat page has again been updated.

For the second straight night, the Mets wasted a strong starting pitching performance with an offense that never showed up. Johan Santana gave up just one earned run in six innings but took the “L.”

The leadoff hitter has once again killed New York Mets’ fans’ chance of seeing a no hitter.

Mike Pelfrey gave up a leadoff single to the Padres’ Jody Gerut Thursday night to drive our NoNoHiiters.com count up to 7,379 New York Mets games without a no hitter. Over the Mets’ 46-plus-year history, 897 games have begun with a hit, and 672 have started with a single.

For more info on these leadoff hits, check out our No hitters killed by first at bat page, which is supposed to just need some occasional updates but has been getting a lot of work this season.

The game remained locked in a 1-1 tie through the ninth, when reliever Scott Schowenweis gave up a walk, another walk and an infield single before hitting Paul McAnulty with a pitch to end the game on a walk-off hit batsman.

Pelfrey did his part in this pitchers’ duel, yielding just one earned run in six innings of work while pitching out of several jams to strand runners in scoring position. He gave up eight hits and three walks but manage to let just one Padre touch the plate.

The San Francisco Giants’ Fred Lewis lead off with a single up the middle off Pedro Martinez Tuesday night to bump the NoNoHitters.com county to 7,377 Mets games without a no hitter.

Once again, we had to update our No hitters killed by first at bat page, which we just did for the 18th time this season. That makes 896 of the Mets’ 7,377 franchise games killed by a leadoff hit.

Martinez had a great performance in the Mets’ 9-6 win, scattering three earned runs and seven hits over six innings. He also went 2-for-3 at the plate.

Johan Santana pitched 7 2/3 strong innings Sunday night to lead the New York Mets to a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers and bring the team back over .500.

Juan Pierre again had a leadoff hit - this time a double - to drive the NoNoHitters.com count to 7,375 games without a no-no. It’s the 894th time a Mets pitcher has yielded an opening hit, so we’ve again updated our No hitters killed by first at bat page.

Santana (7-3) yielded just four additional hits, giving up just one earned run while striking out six. Scott Schowenweis got the third out in the eighth after Joe Smith came in for Santana but hit the only batter he faced. Pedro Feliciano pitched a flawless ninth to seal the game.

Ryan Church returned to the lineup with a 3-for-4 day with a home run and two RBIs. David Wright also went 3-for-4, and Beltran hit a two-run homer.

Juan Pierre lead off the Mets-Dodgers game with a single to center off Mike Pelfrey Saturday to continue the New York Mets’ no hit woes. The count now stands at 7,374 games without a no-no.

It’s the 893rd time a Mets pitcher has yielded an opening hit, so we’ve again updated our No hitters killed by first at bat page.

Pelfrey pitched seven strong innings for the Mets, who won 3-2 to pull back to .500. Pelfrey scattered seven hits and two earned runs while striking out six. Duaner Sanchez pitched a perfect eighth and Billy Wagner struck out the side in the ninth for his 11th save.

The Mets’ offense all came in eighth, when David Wright doubled and Carlos Beltran hit a two run homer. Fernando Tatis added the go-ahead run on an RBI single.

The New York Mets are back at .500 after winning their third straight game, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-4 Thursday night at Shea.

Starter Claudio Vargas (5 2/3 innings, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB) earned the victory but not the no hitter, as Dodgers’ outfielder Juan Pierre led off the game with a single to center. That moves the NoNoHitters.com count to 7,372 Mets games without a no hitter, and also makes us update our No hitters killed by first at bat page for the 14th time this season.

Since the Mets first took the field in 1962, 892 potential no hitters have been broken up by an opponent’s leadoff hit.