Mets' Gant makes another no-no run

John Gant is, like '80s Canadian rock band Loverboy once sang, working for the weekend. And one of these days, his weekend is going to be historic.

The Mets right-handed prospect was perfect through six innings and allowed one hit over seven frames Sunday as the Class A Savannah Sand Gnats beat the Hickory Crawdads, 1-0, at Grayson Stadium.

"I would say overall it wasn't too bad," said Gant. "It was a lot of fun. It got hot toward the end of it and I was sweating, but it was fun.

"I threw some curveballs here and there, but it was mostly fastball-changeup. [I threw the] curveball in situations where I could afford to throw a ball outside the zone. I threw it when I was ahead as a waste pitch."

Gant struck out eight batters and issued two walks in lowering his ERA to 2.55. It marked the second time in three games in which he has taken a no-hitter into the sixth. On July 19, the Savannah native lost his no-no after 5 1/3 frames against Lexington.

"No-hitters are out, one-hitters are in," he joked. "They're what's popular right now. Everybody wants a one-hitter, nobody wants a no-hitter."

Gant threw 62 of 87 pitches for strikes, induced six ground-ball outs and five more through the air.

The 6-foot-3 hurler needed just 61 pitches to get through six perfect innings. He walked Nomar Mazara with two outs in the seventh to lose his shot at perfection and Jairo Beras broke up the no-no two batters later when he sneaked a ground ball through the hole between third base and shortstop.

With the bases loaded and two outs of a scoreless game, the Mets' 21st-round selection in the 2011 Draft, got Zach Cone to fly out to left field with his 87th and final pitch.

"[The hit] was a ground ball in the hole," Gant said. "That is how my last no-hitter was broken up, in the hole on the other side, so it's pretty fitting that is how this was broken up. I don't know if I would say it was weak contact, but it wasn't hit very hard. Just in a spot where nobody could make a play on it."

Bret Mitchell (2-0) worked around one hit over 1 1/3 innings of relief and Akel Morris recorded the final two outs to earn his 12th save of the year.

Gant, who turns 22 on Wednesday, has made 15 starts on either a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. He's also made two on a Thursday, one on a Wednesday and one on a Monday. All four non-weekend starts came within his first five outings after the All-Star break when the Sand Gnats reset their rotation and he had eight days between his final start of the first half and his second start of the second half.

"I love going at the weekend," he said. "Everybody dogs the day games, but I like throwing in the day and then having the rest of the day off instead of getting back at 11:30 at night. I like playing early and getting out early."

Gant has been particularly efficient over the past month. In his most recent five starts, he is 3-1 with a 1.86 ERA. He has only allowed more than one run in one of those five games, when he yielded four runs over two innings in a loss to Charleston on July 13.

"I've been very comfortable on the mound. I've been in a rhythm," said Gant, who grew up on Dutch Island about 25 minutes southeast of the ballpark. "Sometimes if you start thinking, 'I've started well, I've started well, I've started well,' you're doomed. It's difficult if you let it get in your head. You have to have a one-track mind.

"I have a good staff taking care of me. A good trainer and good strength coach pushing me to excel and keep my body in shape. That has a lot to do with having success over a long season."