J.D. Martinez plays spoiler for first Braves no-hitter in 30 years

Coming into Saturday, it had been 30 years and a month since the Atlanta Braves had tossed a no-hitter as a franchise. But at Citi Field against the rival New York Mets -- you know, just to make it potentially sweeter -- they were on the cusp of rewriting those history books on the back of southpaw ace Max Fried.

Fried took the bump for the Braves on Saturday and tossed a gem, throwing 109 pitches over 7.0 innings with five strikeouts, three walks and, most crucially, no hits. Despite a pair of walks and some trouble, Joe Jimenez kept the hope of a combined no-hitter alive in the eighth inning by still not allowing a hit. And that put closer Raisel Iglesias on the bump to get the final three outs.

He indeed got the first two of the three that he needed, sitting down Francisco Lindor with a strikeout and Pete Alonso with a groundout. That brought veteran DH J.D. Martinez to the dish, though, and after getting robbed of extra bases in the seventh inning with a great Michael Harris II grab in centerfield, he didn't let this one get robbed.

Down to the Mets' final out and on the verge of being no-hit by one of the club's fiercest rivals, Martinez saved Queens from embarrassment with a solo home run to make it 4-1 on the day.

J.D. Martinez spoils history for Braves with home run on final out

The drama didn't actually stop there, either. In the next at-bat, Jeff McNeil drew a walk before Harrison Bader reached on a deep infield single to leave men on first and second. But then Brett Baty hit a weak fly ball that was an easy final out for the Braves to secure the win.

Let's be honest, the vibes for the Mets coming out of this game still aren't going to be high. They've now lost back-to-back games to the rival Braves at Citi Field and haven't really had many answers at all for their NL East foes. But if we're talking about weighing post-game vibes on a sliding scale, Martinez saved the Mets from not being able to show their face proudly for a bit and just made this another middling loss for the club.

While that might not seem important, it very well could be, especially with the series finale on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball looming as Atlanta's Bryce Elder faces off against Luis Severino. Martinez's home run and saving face -- and, let's face it, taking history away from the Braves -- could be a catalyst for good things to come.