Mets 8, Angels 0

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Once Steve Trachsel started hitting his spots, the Anaheim Angels didn't have a chance.

The New York right-hander allowed only a single to David Eckstein as the Mets beat the World Series champions 8-0 Sunday. It was Trachsel's second career one-hitter.

Eckstein lined a 1-2 curveball over second baseman Roberto Alomar's head to break up the no-hit bid with two outs in the sixth inning. Trachsel escaped the first two innings with double-play grounders and retired the next 11 batters.

``It was important for him to get out of those first two innings with no damage,'' Mets manager Art Howe said. ``After that, it was clear sailing. He was in total command. It doesn't get much closer to a no-hitter than that. I'm just glad it was a clean hit, so that at least he knows that they earned it.''

Eckstein continued to third when the ball got past right fielder Roger Cedeno, but was stranded by Trachsel (5-4).

``It was an emergency hack, to tell you the truth,'' Eckstein said. ``He kept us off-balance the whole day.''

It was the sixth shutout and 17th complete game for Trachsel in 292 career starts over 11 years. He ended his two-game slide 10 days after Milwaukee hit four home runs against him at Shea Stadium. That snapped his four-game winning streak.

``The biggest difference today was that the ball was down in the zone and I pretty much had an idea where it was going,'' said Trachsel, who threw 70 of his 119 pitches for strikes in the Mets' first complete game this season.

It was the 20th one-hitter in team history, and the first since Shawn Estes did it April 26, 2002. The Mets have never had a no-hitter in their 42-year history.

``It just shows how hard it is to do,'' Trachsel said. ``I wasn't even thinking about a no-hitter at that point. With that lineup, I'm just trying to go one out at a time.''

Rookie Jose Reyes hit a grand slam for his first major league homer and drove in another run with a groundout, finishing 3-for-4. Jeromy Burnitz drove in three runs with a pair of homers as the Mets took the rubber game of the first series between the teams.

``We were playing pretty well up to this series, so I don't think it's time to panic or anything,'' Anaheim starter Jarrod Washburn said. ``They're a better team than their record shows. But the bottom line is that to get to where we need to be, we need to be able to beat everybody the good teams, the mediocre teams and the bad teams.''

Washburn (6-7) lost his fourth straight at home, allowing seven runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings his shortest outing this season.

Reyes, a switch-hitting shortstop playing his sixth big league game, pulled a 3-2 pitch into the lower seats in the left-field corner to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.

``We know he's got a little juice,'' Howe said. ``I actually said to Vern (pitching coach Vern Rhule), `It would be nice for his first grand slam right here.' When he hit it, Vern got all excited and said, `You called it! You called it!' It was a great at-bat, too. He was able to spoil the tough pitches until he finally got a pitch he could handle.''< ^Notes:@ Trachsel's other one-hitter was with the Chicago Cubs on May 13, 1996, when he beat Houston 6-0. ... The only other Mets player to hit a grand slam for his first major league homer was former Angels pitcher Jack Hamilton, who hit one off a former Met Al Jackson on May 20, 1967.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)