April 26, 2002: Shawn Estes pitches Mets’ 19th one-hitter to beat Brewers

The New York Mets were 12-10 in 2002 as they began a weekend series at home against the Milwaukee Brewers in late April. The Mets had missed the postseason in 2001, finishing third in the National League East Division with an 82-80 record.

New York had made some changes to its roster in the offseason. First baseman Mo Vaughn, left fielder Roger Cedeño, and right fielder Jeromy Burnitz were acquired to upgrade the lineup, and 12-time All-Star Roberto Alomar was signed to play second base.

Left-hander Shawn Estes, obtained in an offseason trade with the San Francisco Giants,1 joined Pedro Astacio and Jeff D’Amico as veteran additions to a starting rotation anchored by Al Leiter and Steve Trachsel. In seven years with the Giants, the 29-year-old Estes had gone 64-50 in 160 games, all starts.

With their revamped roster, the Mets stayed in first place in the NL East for most of April despite injuries to several key players. Mike Piazza (strained left hamstring), Timo Pérez (pulled left hamstring), and Rey Ordóñez (pulled muscle in rib cage) were out of the lineup on April 26 when the Brewers arrived at Shea Stadium.

Milwaukee had a 7-15 record so far in 2002. After losing 12 of their first 15 games, the Brewers fired third-year manager Davey Lopes2 on April 18 and replaced him with bench coach Jerry Royster. They were in the middle of a six-game road trip that began with three straight losses to the Montreal Expos.

Estes started Friday night’s series opener for the Mets. He entered the game with a 0-2 record and a 5.09 ERA. He was the only Mets starter without a win in April. Estes had allowed 26 hits and 13 earned runs in his first four starts. He also had struggled with back spasms and worked with a back specialist before every start.

Estes showed no evidence of pain as he was perfect through the first six innings. He struck out three Brewers and every other out was a fly ball to the outfield.

Facing Estes was former Met Glendon Rusch, who had gone to the Brewers three months earlier in a three-team offseason trade.3 His start in a combined one-hitter against the Boston Red Sox on July 14 had been the highlight of an inconsistent 2001 season in New York. Rusch finished 8-12 with a 4.63 ERA in his second season as a Mets starter. The 26-year-old left-hander was 1-1 with a 2.83 ERA in four starts with Milwaukee.

Alomar led off the bottom of the first with a single but went nowhere after John Valentin lined out to left field and Vaughn hit into a double play.

Rusch got Edgardo Alfonzo to ground out in the second and struck out Burnitz. Then Jay Payton hit Rusch’s second pitch over the left-field wall to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. It was Payton’s second homer of the season.

“It was up and out over the plate and he whacked it. There’s not much you can do about that,” said Rusch of Payton’s home run.”4

“When you’re scuffling, you’re just trying to look for something over the plate and trying to hit it hard. That’s all I did. He left me a changeup in a little bit,” said Payton.5

The Mets placed only one other runner in scoring position all game. Rusch walked Vaughn with one out in the fourth and Alfonzo singled to move Vaughn to second. But a fly out and a force out at second ended the frame.

The Brewers almost got their first hit in the fifth, but Burnitz hauled in José Hernández’s line drive with a running catch near the foul line.

When Estes came to bat in the fifth, the Shea Stadium scoreboard broadcast the fact that he had thrown four no-hitters in high school. “I didn’t notice that,” said Estes. “You’re not supposed to do that, are they? Isn’t that kind of a jinx?”6

In the sixth, Estes almost lost his no-hitter again when Raúl Casanova’s one-out groundball glanced off Estes’ foot and rolled toward first base. Vaughn grabbed the ball with his bare hand, ran to first, and made a diving tag on Casanova’s left shoulder just before the Milwaukee catcher reached the base.

Rusch followed by grounding out to Valentin at short, and it was 18 up, 18 down for Estes. Mets catcher Vance Wilson admitted later that he was preparing a “no-hitter speech” for reporters after the sixth inning.7

When Estes took the mound in the seventh, it was first time a Mets pitcher had carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning since June 19, 1998, when Rick Reed lost it with one out on a single by   Edgar Renteria of the Florida Marlins.8 The last time that a Mets pitcher had been perfect through six innings was September 26, 1971, when Tom Seaver walked the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Dave Cash to lead off the seventh of a 3-1 win.

Eric Young Sr., who had signed with the Brewers as a free agent in January,9 led off the seventh and hit Estes’ third pitch to left for a single to break up the perfect game. Young was 11-for-27 (.407) against Estes in the past. “(He) is probably hitting .400 against me and half the hits are on the same pitch, a high changeup,” said Estes.10

Estes said he knew he was working on a perfect game and believed he might just throw one. “All those guys who get to the seventh inning with a perfect game and they say they were so focused they didn’t know it – no way,” he said.11

Estes stayed focused after the single. Ronnie Belliard flied out to center field. Wilson threw out Young stealing, and Jeffrey Hammonds struck out to end the frame.

Estes allowed one other baserunner when he walked Hernández with two outs in the eighth. He retired the next four batters to seal his first win of the season. Estes struck out eight, walked one and faced 28 batters, one above the minimum. The game lasted 1 hour and 53 minutes.

Rusch took the loss despite going the distance and giving up just three hits. He lowered his ERA to 2.45. It was the fifth time in 2002 that he went six or more innings and gave up three or fewer runs. Yet he had only one win to show for his effort as the Brewers failed to give him run support.

“There’s not much you can do but tip your hat. He was unbelievable,” said Rusch of Estes. “He was throwing all three of his pitches well all game. And he was working ahead in the count. He’s tough to beat on a night like that, when he’s pitching that well.”12

“It doesn’t get any better than that,” said Mets manager Bobby Valentine. “It gets one pitch better, I guess.”13

“I can’t say I’m not disappointed,”’ Estes said. “You don’t get too many opportunities for that.”14

Estes had the 19th one-hitter in the Mets’ 41 seasons to date. New York pitchers threw 12 more one-hitters before Johan Santana pitched the first no-hitter in team history on June 1, 2012.15

T.J. Quinn of the New York Daily News put Estes’ performance in perspective when he wrote, “Estes is a New York Met, and what he learned last night is that New York Mets do not throw no-hitters.”16

The win left the Mets one game behind the Montreal Expos in the NL East Division. New York won four more games to gain a tie for first place. Despite going 13-15 in May, the Mets were still tied for the division lead with the Atlanta Braves on May 29. But after going 3-12 to start June, they fell into fourth place. Their struggles continued and New York eventually finished in the division cellar. Valentine was fired at the end of the season.17

Estes’ New York tenure had already ended by then. He was 4-9 with a 4.55 ERA when the Mets traded him to the Cincinnati Reds on August 15.18 In his 13-season major-league career – during which all but two of his 283 appearances were starts – his 2002 gem against the Brewers at Shea Stadium was his only complete-game one-hitter.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Bruce Slutsky and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Shawn Estes, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author used the Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org websites for the box score and other material.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200204260.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2002/B04260NYN2002.htm

Notes

1 Estes went to the Mets and New York sent Desi Relaford and Tsuyoshi Shinjo to the Giants.

2 Lopes had served as a coach for three major-league teams before becoming the Brewers’ manager in 2000. His first coaching job came when Bobby Valentine, who was managing the Texas Rangers, hired him as a coach in 1988. He stayed on the Texas coaching staff until he was fired in 1991. He then worked as a coach in Baltimore (1992-1994) and San Diego (1995-1999).

3 Rusch was traded as part of a three-team trade. New York sent Rusch and Lenny Harris to the Brewers. The Mets sent Benny Agbayani, Todd Zeile, and cash to the Colorado Rockies. Colorado sent Ross Gload and Craig House to New York and Alex Ochoa to the Brewers. Milwaukee sent Jeromy Burnitz, Lou Collier, Jeff D’Amico, Mark Sweeney, and cash to the Mets.

4 Adam Rubin, “Milwaukee’s Best Rusch Job Is Not Enough,” New York Daily News, April 27, 2002: 46.

5 Rubin.

6 Jack Curry, “Estes Comes Close to Perfect in His First Victory as a Met,” New York Times, April 27, 2002: D1.

7 Curry.

8 New York eventually lost the game, 3-2, after Reed gave up four hits and three runs in the seventh inning.

9 Young was granted free agency by the Cubs after the 2001 season. The Brewers were hoping that Young would provide some spark to a lineup that led the National League in strikeouts in 2001.

10 Michael Cunningham, “One and Done,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 27, 2002: 21.

11 T.J. Quinn, “Hurls Near-Perfect Gem to Down Brews,” New York Daily News, April 27, 2002: 46.

12 Rubin, “Milwaukee’s Best Rusch Job Is Not Enough.” The Brewers did not improve under Royster. Milwaukee eventually finished 56-106, in last place in the NL Central Division. Milwaukee replaced Royster after the season with Ned Yost, who had been the Braves’ third-base and bullpen coach since 1994.

13 Curry, “Estes Comes Close to Perfect in His First Victory as a Met.”

14 Curry.

15 There have been 39 one-hitters and two no-hitters in Mets history. Their second no-hitter, on April 29, 2022, was thrown by five pitchers. A complete list can be found at “One Hitters by Mets Pitchers,” NoNoHitters.com, https://mets.nonohitters.com/onehitters/. Accessed February 2025.

16 Quinn, “Hurls Near-Perfect Gem to Down Brews.”

17 The Mets signed Art Howe to be their manager in 2003. Howe had spent seven years as manager of the Oakland A’s. The A’s had consecutive 100-win seasons in Howe’s last two years in Oakland.

18 Estes was traded along with cash to the Cincinnati Reds for players to be named later. Elvin Beltre, Pedro Feliciano, Raúl González, and Brady Clark were eventually sent to the Mets to complete the trade.