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 Mets’ offense built Mike Pelfrey a 9-0 lead by the third inning Thursday night en route to an 11-1 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Any hope of the elusive Mets no-hitter was quashed in the first inning when Chris Duncan singled to center. That marked the 7,405th franchise game without a no-no.

But Pelfrey pitched great to improve to 6-6, yielding just one earned run and six hits in seven innings of work.

Jose Reyes went 1-for-4, but his lone hit was a base-clearing triple. Carlos Delgado had a homer and sacrifice fly for three RBIs.

The Mets begin a weekend series with the first-place Philadelphia Phillies on Friday with the hopes of making up some of the 4 1/2 games back.

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

Tony Armas Jr. won his season debut Tuesday night as the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4.

Armas, called up for a game from the AAA New Orleans Zephyrs, went six innings, giving up four earned runs and eight hits. The Mets gave him some run support as David Wright went 3-for-4 with a home run and Carlos Delgado went 3-for-3.

It was once again Aaron Miles who killed the no-hitter. He doubled to right in the first inning to advance the NoNoHitters.com count to 7,403 New York Mets games without a no-hitter.

The Mets continued to show their inability to develop any positive momentum Monday night during a 7-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

John Maine looked shaky right from the start, and he was lucky to escape the first inning giving up just two runs. He lasted just four innings, giving up five runs (three of them earned), seven hits and three walks.

Meanwhile, on the no-hitter front, Aaron Miles singled to right off Maine in the first inning to advance the NoNoHitters.com count to 7,402 New York Mets games without a no hitter.