San Francisco Giants rookie Chris Heston throws no-hitter against Mets

San Francisco Giants right-hander Chris Heston no-hit the Mets in New York on Tuesday night to become the first rookie to accomplish the feat since Clay Buchholz of the Boston Red Sox did it in 2007.

Heston (6-4) struck out 11 batters over nine innings with 110 pitches -- 72 for strikes. He hit two batters in the fourth inning and another in the ninth, costing him a chance for a perfect game, as the Giants beat the Mets, 5-0.

“Lot of emotions going through my mind right now,” Heston said after the game. “Hasn’t sunk in yet. Looking forward to catching my breath and celebrating a little bit.”

The 27-year-old was three outs away from giving the Giants a no-hitter in four consecutive years when he opened the ninth inning by hitting Anthony Recker with a pitch.

No matter. Heston would strand Recker as he had done so to Ruben Tejada and Lucas Duda in the fourth by sticking to the gameplan that had gotten him through the eight previous innings.

“Attack the zone. Don’t let the nerves get to me. Just throw quality strikes, and that didn’t change in the ninth,” he said. “Some extra nerves going on. Taking a little more deep breaths out there. I realized it and it was awesome to be part of it.”

Heston then struck out pinch-hitter Danny Muno, Curtis Granderson and Tejada -- all looking -- to end the game. The grandeur of the moment was enough to stump the rookie.

“I wasn’t too sure where to go after that last out,” he said.

Luckily, Heston had the benefit of working with catcher Buster Posey, who has been in each of the Giants’ last four no-hitters.

Heston walked slowly off the mound and was hugged by Posey. At the same time he was embraced with a standing ovation from the crowd of 22,155 present at Citi Field.

“It’s fun to see good things happen to good people,” Posey said.

Heston was drafted by the Giants in the 12th round of the 2009 draft after playing two years at Seminole Community College in Oklahoma before finishing his collegiate career at East Carolina.

He threw a complete game on the road earlier this season against the Houston Astros, an 8-1 win for the Giants. In that outing he struck out 10 batters and surrendered two hits.

His teammate, Tim Lincecum, threw a no-hitter last season on June 25 against the San Diego Padres. Lincecum also had a no-hitter in 2013 and Matt Cain had one as well in 2012.

The Dodgers were the last team to have no-hitters in four consecutive seasons from 1962-65. All four thrown by Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax.

The last regular-season no-hitter came on the last day of the 2014 season when Jordan Zimmermann threw a no-no in the Nationals’ season finale against the Miami Marlins.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Follow Matt Wilhalme on Twitter @mattwilhalme