Brad Holt threw a no hitter in his Keyspan Park debut on June 26.
Through five innings, that is.
Despite the no-no, Holt was removed after a 1-2-3 fifth inning against the Aberdeen Ironbirds because he had reached his pitch count of 80.
The hometown crowd gave Holt a much-deserved standing ovation.
Being pulled from a no-hitter didn’t diminish what Holt had accomplished. Opening the game by mainly using his fastball, he struck out the first two Ironbird batters. Then he hit the next hitter, Jacob Julius, with a pitch before getting a ground out to end the first.
After Holt, who was picked by the Mets between the first and second rounds this year, retired the Ironbirds in order in the second, the Cyclones took a 1–0 lead as Ike Davis doubled and later scored on a single by Josh Satin.
Still throwing heat in the third, Holt once again retired Aberdeen in order.
He opened the fourth by allowing a walk, the second and final base runner of his appearance.
In his final inning, Holt struck out the first two batters, both swinging, before getting Tom Edwards to fly out.
Brandon Moore came in to pitch the sixth, and the Ironbirds first batter of the inning, Eric Perlozzo, ended the no-hit bid by homering.
“I mostly used my fastball,” said Holt, who went 11–1 with a 3.18 ERA at UNC–Wilmington this season. “I mixed in a few curves and change-ups, but I kept attacking with the fastball.”
Cyclones’ pitching coach Hector Berrios was certainly impressed.
“He was on, he was overwhelming,” said Berrios, predicting more to come. “He has an abundant amount of talent, and at any given time he is capable of that type of performance.”
Alas, Holt returned to more human dimensions in his next Cyclone outing on July 1, when he gave up two runs (only one was earned) in 3 2/3 innings of work against the pesky Hudson Valley Renegades. Holt got the loss, lowering his record to 1–2 and raising is ERA to 2.45.
