Greene Gets No-Hitter in His 15th Start : Baseball: Phillies’ 24-year-old right-hander strikes out 10 and walks seven in a 2-0 victory over Expos.

Tommy Greene, acquired by the Philadelphia Phillies last summer as part of the Dale Murphy trade with the Atlanta Braves, was little more than a throw-in.

Not a bad pickup.

Greene pitched a no-hitter Thursday as the Phillies beat the Montreal Expos, 2-0.

Greene, a 24-year-old right-hander making only his 15th career start, also struck out a career-high 10, although he walked seven. His no-hitter was the second of the season--Nolan Ryan had the other--and the eighth in Phillie history.

“I think I really got into a groove around the third inning, but I actually felt pretty good all day,” Greene said. “I realized about the sixth inning what was going on, but you can’t really think about it. You have to just do your job.”

The Expos didn’t come close to getting a hit. They hit only three balls out of the infield--flies by Tim Wallach in the fourth, Ron Hassey in the seventh and Marquis Grissom in the eighth.

“It was certainly no fluke,” Expo Manager Buck Rodgers said. “He was throwing the ball as hard as ninety-two miles an hour, and he was handcuffing us. He deserved it.”

In the ninth inning, Greene struck out Andres Galarraga and got Larry Walker on a groundout to third.

Greene said he was thinking back to a conversation he once had with Leo Mazzone, a pitching coach in Atlanta’s minor league organization.

“I had three no-hitters that I lost with two outs and two strikes in the last inning,” said Greene, who was soaked with beer in the Phillies clubhouse. “And I remember after the last one, Leo Mazzone telling me, ‘When are you finally going to get one?’ Well, today, I finally hung onto it.”

Greene (3-0) took care of the final out himself. Wallach hit a hard one-hopper to the mound, Greene snared it and jogged toward first before flipping the ball to Ricky Jordan for the final out.

Greene and Jordan hugged as the Phillies ran onto the field and embraced the pitcher.

“As soon as I grabbed it, I just yelled ‘Yeah!’ ” said Greene, who extended his arms as he ran toward first. “But I’m just glad we played on (artificial) turf because it gave the ball a true hop.

“He hit the ball hard, but it was clean.”

Greene and Murphy were acquired from Atlanta last Aug. 3 for pitcher Jeff Parrett, outfielder Jim Vatcher and infielder Victor Rosario.

Greene began his major league career with the Braves in 1989, going 1-2 with a 4.10 earned-run average.

His only previous complete game in the majors was a three-hit shutout against Houston on Sept. 10, 1989. It was also his first major league victory.

Greene, 7-5 in his big league career, was 3-3 with a 5.08 ERA last season in nine starts and six relief appearances. He signed with Atlanta in June 1985 after graduating from Whiteville High School in North Carolina. Greene was born in Lumberton, N.C., and lives in Richmond, Va.

Greene, filling in for injured Danny Cox in the starting rotation, had made only one previous start this season, throwing six shutout innings against San Francisco on May 1. Greene has made nine relief appearances this year.

He had some control problems against the Expos. Of 130 pitches, 54 were balls.

“He seemed to know exactly what he wanted to do and when,” Phillie catcher Darrin Fletcher said. “There were a couple of times he didn’t feel comfortable with the pitches I called and he shook me off. He was in control out there.”

Ryan’s no-hitter for the Texas Rangers this season came on May 1 against Toronto.

The last Philadelphia pitcher to throw a no-hitter was Terry Mulholland against San Francisco last Aug. 15. There were nine no-hitters in the majors last season, the most in the modern era.

The Phillies scored a run in the first inning when John Kruk doubled and Jordan tripled off Oil Can Boyd (2-5). Philadelphia added a run in the ninth on consecutive doubles by Von Hayes and Fletcher off Scott Ruskin.