Maine comes within four outs of no-hitter <h3>NY METS 13, FLORIDA 0</h3><div class="pre">FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- In a month that the New York</div>Mets so far would like to forget, John Maine came tantalizinglyclose to giving the franchise something to remember for alifetime. Maine came within four outs of the first no-hitter in the46-year history of the franchise before Paul Hoover reached onan infield single as the Mets routed the Florida Marlins, 13-0,in a game that featured two benches-clearing incidents in thefifth inning. "The timing was pretty good. We needed a win today," Maine said. The Mets (88-73) won for just the fifth time in 16 games andtemporarily moved within one-half game of the first-placePhiladelphia Phillies in the National League East. The Phillieshost the Washington Nationals later on Saturday. Both the Metsand Phillies conclude their regular season on Sunday. "We can control what we can control," third baseman David Wrightsaid. New York, which led the division by seven games on September 12,fell out of first place Friday for the first time in over fourmonths and is trying to avoid one of the more monumentalcollapses in baseball history. "In a game we had to have, John Maine stepped up big time forus," manager Willie Randolph said. For at least an hour, the division race took a back seat to the25-year-old Maine, who had the longest no-hit bid by a Met sinceTom Glavine went 7 2/3 innings against Colorado on May 23,2004. Maine's bid ended when Hoover hit a ball that rolled up thethird base line before Wright picked it up without throwing. "What can you do? We still won the game so I'll take it," saidMaine, who is no pressure to pitching in big games after winningGame Six of the NLCS last October against St. Lous. Ironically, Hoover had entered the game for Miguel Olivo afterthe catcher was ejected for his role in the fifth inning melee. "I don't know how far it went, but it apparently wasn't toofar," Hoover said. Maine walked two struck out 14, the most by a Met since AlLeiter fanned 15 against Chicago on August 1, 1999. "You've just got to tip your cap to him," Marlins manager FrediGonzalez said. "Fourteen strikeouts? Was it that many?" Maine struck out seven straight batters spanning the second andfourth innings, the first Met to fan seven in a row since Leiteragainst Arizona on August 23, 1998. "I just went out with the same approach I always do," Mainesaid. Once the no-hit bid was ended, Maine (15-10), who won for thefirst time in five starts, was lifted after throwing 115 pitches Willie Collazzo recorded the final out of the eighth and CarlosMuniz pitched the ninth, finishing off the Mets' thirdone-hitter of the season. The other two were rain shortened. The Marlins' lone base runner in the first six innings was DanUggla, who walked and was caught stealing as Jeremy Hermidastruck out in the first. Lastings Milledge hit a pair of home runs for the Mets, whobanged out 19 hits and snapped an eight-game home losing streak. "It's been a rough week. We have to come out and pound people,"Milledge said. Marlins starter Chris Seddon (0-2) was pounded for five runs andseven hits in 1 2/3 innings. Moises Alou and Carlos Delgado had back-to-back RBI singles inthe first to make it 2-0. Seddon was lifted with two outs in the second after allowing RBIsingles to Luis Castillo and Beltran that increased the lead to4-0. Russ Wolf relieved and promptly allowed an RBI single toAlou. Milledge hit a two-run homer and Castillo had an RBI double inthe third off Wulf to increase the lead to 8-0. Milledgerecorded his first career multi-homer game when he connected offHarvey Garcia in the fifth. Garcia appeared to take exception to an excessive home runcelebration by Milledge when he threw pitch behind Castillo thatwent to the backstop. Castillo took a few steps toward themound and both benches emptied before order was restored. The problem escalated when the Marlins made a pitching changefollowing a walk to Castillo. Catcher Miguel Olivo was at thepitcher's mound when he got into a shouting match with JoseReyes, who was at third base. "He went to the mound and said, 'do you want to fight?' I said'yes,'" Reyes said. Both benches emptied again as Reyes and Olivo engaged in ashoving match near third with Mets coach Sandy Alomar Sr.getting stuck in the middle. The melee spilled over toward thethird base line, with Olivo the only individual ejected. "We are good friends," Olivo said. "Maybe he got a littleexcited." Ramon Castro hit a solo homer in the sixth for the Mets, whoscored in every inning but the fourth
Maine comes within four outs of no-hitter <h3>NY METS 13, FLORIDA 0</h3><div class="pre">FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- In a month that the New York</div>Mets so far would like to forget, John Maine came tantalizinglyclose to giving the franchise something to remember for alifetime. Maine came within four outs of the first no-hitter in the46-year history of the franchise before Paul Hoover reached onan infield single as the Mets routed the Florida Marlins, 13-0,in a game that featured two benches-clearing incidents in thefifth inning. "The timing was pretty good. We needed a win today," Mainesaid. The Mets (88-73) won for just the fifth time in 16 games andmoved into a tie for first place with the Philadelphia Philliesin the National League East. The Phillies (88-73) lost to theWashington Nationals, 4-2, Saturday. Both the Mets and Philliesconclude their regular season on Sunday. "We can control what we can control," third baseman David Wrightsaid. New York, which led the division by seven games on September 12,fell out of first place Friday for the first time in over fourmonths and is trying to avoid one of the more monumentalcollapses in baseball history. "In a game we had to have, John Maine stepped up big time forus," manager Willie Randolph said. For at least an hour, the division race took a back seat to the25-year-old Maine, who had the longest no-hit bid by a Met sinceTom Glavine went 7 2/3 innings against Colorado on May 23,2004. Maine's bid ended when Hoover hit a ball that rolled up thethird base line before Wright picked it up without throwing. "What can you do? We still won the game so I'll take it," saidMaine, who is no pressure to pitching in big games after winningGame Six of the NLCS last October against St. Lous. Ironically, Hoover had entered the game for Miguel Olivo afterthe catcher was ejected for his role in the fifth inning melee. "I don't know how far it went, but it apparently wasn't toofar," Hoover said. Maine walked two struck out 14, the most by a Met since AlLeiter fanned 15 against Chicago on August 1, 1999. "You've just got to tip your cap to him," Marlins manager FrediGonzalez said. "Fourteen strikeouts? Was it that many?" Maine struck out seven straight batters spanning the second andfourth innings, the first Met to fan seven in a row since Leiteragainst Arizona on August 23, 1998. "I just went out with the same approach I always do," Mainesaid. Once the no-hit bid was ended, Maine (15-10), who won for thefirst time in five starts, was lifted after throwing 115 pitches Willie Collazzo recorded the final out of the eighth and CarlosMuniz pitched the ninth, finishing off the Mets' thirdone-hitter of the season. The other two were rain shortened. The Marlins' lone base runner in the first six innings was DanUggla, who walked and was caught stealing as Jeremy Hermidastruck out in the first. Lastings Milledge hit a pair of home runs for the Mets, whobanged out 19 hits and snapped an eight-game home losing streak. "It's been a rough week. We have to come out and pound people,"Milledge said. Marlins starter Chris Seddon (0-2) was pounded for five runs andseven hits in 1 2/3 innings. Moises Alou and Carlos Delgado had back-to-back RBI singles inthe first to make it 2-0. Seddon was lifted with two outs in the second after allowing RBIsingles to Luis Castillo and Beltran that increased the lead to4-0. Russ Wolf relieved and promptly allowed an RBI single toAlou. Milledge hit a two-run homer and Castillo had an RBI double inthe third off Wulf to increase the lead to 8-0. Milledgerecorded his first career multi-homer game when he connected offHarvey Garcia in the fifth. Garcia appeared to take exception to an excessive home runcelebration by Milledge when he threw pitch behind Castillo thatwent to the backstop. Castillo took a few steps toward themound and both benches emptied before order was restored. The problem escalated when the Marlins made a pitching changefollowing a walk to Castillo. Catcher Miguel Olivo was at thepitcher's mound when he got into a shouting match with JoseReyes, who was at third base. "He went to the mound and said, 'do you want to fight?' I said'yes,'" Reyes said. Both benches emptied again as Reyes and Olivo engaged in ashoving match near third with Mets coach Sandy Alomar Sr.getting stuck in the middle. The melee spilled over toward thethird base line, with Olivo the only individual ejected. "We are good friends," Olivo said. "Maybe he got a littleexcited." Ramon Castro hit a solo homer in the sixth for the Mets, whoscored in every inning but the fourth
