First, Dillon Gee flirted with a no-hitter.
Then Justin Turner came within inches of delivering a game-tying hit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
But both came up short and Bobby Parnell's rough ninth inning cost the Mets what would have been their third straight win in a 2-1 loss to the Braves last night at Citi Field.
"You chalk it up as one of those days," said Parnell, who couldn't hold a 1-0 lead and blew his first save since June 4. "I couldn't have done much different. The balls just fell in."
Until the bottom of the inning, when Turner sent a line drive to left-center that was about to drop for a hit that would have at least knotted the score. Instead, center fielder Jason Heyward raced over and made a spectacular diving catch to end the game, robbing Turner and the Mets.
Ron Antonelli
AMAZIN' ROBBERY: Braves left fielder Reed Johnson celebrates Jason Heyward's diving catch on a Justin Turner fly ball for the final out of the Mets' 2-1 loss last night at Citi Field.
"Obviously, he made a hell of a play," said Turner, fresh off the disabled list and facing closer Craig Kimbrel. "I went up there and tried to take a good at-bat. Unfortunately, I ended up on the wrong end of the highlight reel."
It's a feeling the Mets are no doubt used to.
Gee didn't give up a hit until Freddie Freeman led off the seventh with a clean single to center and insisted the thought of pitching the franchise's second no-hitter never entered his mind.
"I don't ever think that," said Gee, who pitched seven shutout innings and gave up two hits and three walks. "I was just thinking of getting outs. And I had nothing outstanding today, at all."
What he did have was good enough to baffle Atlanta for a second time. On June 17, he took a shutout into the bottom of the ninth before Freeman hit a walk-off homer.
Last night, Gee got plenty of help defensively, with Daniel Murphy and David Wright both making nifty plays to prevent hits before Omar Quintanilla made the best play of the night — until Heyward outdid him — by ranging far to his right and making a strong throw to get Justin Upton to end the sixth.
One batter later, Freeman ended the no-hit drama, but Gee was still in line to earn his eighth win when Parnell entered in the ninth.
But Brian McCann got a single through the shift and Evan Gattis followed with another that fell in front of Marlon Byrd, who was playing no-doubles defense in right.
After Dan Uggla grounded into a force out at third, a John Buck passed ball put a pair of runners in scoring position.
Manager Terry Collins elected to play the infield back and Chris Johnson's grounder to short scored Gattis from third.
Collins said bringing the infield in was not an option with the go-ahead run on base.
"You can't let the winning run in," Collins said. "You've got to take that away."
Pinch-hitter Reed Johnson followed with another hit to score Uggla and give the Braves their first lead.
And the offense, which scored 18 runs in three games against the Phillies, only managed a fourth-inning run last night, when Byrd opened with a triple and Ike Davis drove him in with a single.
For much of the game, it appeared the lone run would be enough for Gee and the Mets.
But like Gee's attempt at a no-hitter, it wasn't.
"For me to get a no-hitter, I would have to be extremely, extremely lucky," Gee said.
And luck, as the Mets know, is often in short supply at Citi Field.
dan.martin@nypost.com
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