Johan Santana pitched the first no-hitter in New York Mets history Friday night, as the Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-0. Santana threw 134 pitches, struck out eight and walked five in his historic outing.

Santana, who missed all of the 2011 season due to shoulder surgery, had not thrown so many pitches in more than two years. With the score 8-0, however, Mets manager Terry Collins left him in for a chance at history. The Mets played 8,019 games before their first no hitter, though 35 one-hitters over the years came close. The ninth inning saw Santana put down Matt Holliday on a line drive straight to Andres Torres, the recently activated Allen Craig on a fly ball to left, and David Freese on a strikeout in six pitches.

Mike Baxter made a terrific catch in the seventh inning to preserve Santana's no-hit bid, but appeared to hurt his arm running into the wall. Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Lucas Duda led things on the offensive side of the ball, with Nieuwenhuis going 2-3 with a walk and Duda picking up four RBI.

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