MIAMI -- Edinson Volquez's
day was nearly over after three pitches. And he strongly considered
leaving the game after five innings because of sharp ankle pain.
A couple hours later, nothing was hurting.
He stuck around -- and pitched the game of his life.
Volquez threw the sixth no-hitter in Marlins history, facing the minimum 27 batters on Saturday and beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-0. Tied for the major league lead in losses when the game began, he struck out 10, and the two baserunners who reached on walks were erased by double plays.
He needed 98 pitches, the last of those striking out Chris Owings to complete the masterpiece.
"When I passed the seventh, I said, `I'm going to go for it," Volquez said. "And I got it."
It's the first no-hitter in the majors since Jake Arrieta did it for the Cubs on April 21, 2016, at Cincinnati, and the first time Arizona was no-hit since the Marlins' Anibal Sanchez threw one on Sept. 6, 2006.
Volquez (2-7) was nearly knocked out of the game after just one batter, when he collided with Diamondbacks leadoff man Rey Fuentes as he covered first, rolled his ankle and took a hard fall to the turf.
"I thought I broke my ankle," he kidded after the game.
Alas, that was the only hit the Diamondbacks got. Luckily for Volquez, body blows don't show up in the scorebook.
"I have faith in God," Fuentes said. "And if there was a plan for Volquez, today was his day."
The 33-year-old righty was one of the pitchers the Marlins brought in this past offseason in part to fill the void caused by the death of ace Jose Fernandez, who died in a boat crash last September.
Fernandez was very much on Volquez's mind Saturday.
So was Yordano Ventura, the Kansas City pitcher who was killed in a car crash in the Dominican Republic in January. Saturday would have been Ventura's 26th birthday. He and Volquez were not just countrymen, but close friends.
"It was special for me to dedicate the game to him," Volquez said.
Volquez's first season in Miami started about as badly as possible; the Marlins lost eight of his first nine starts and Volquez dropped his first seven decisions.
Yet on this day, he was nearly perfect.
"Just a lot of things lined up," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "And his stuff was really, really good."
Nick Ahmed -- who broke up a no-hit bid by Milwaukee's Chase Anderson in the eighth inning one week earlier -- led off the ninth for Arizona and struck out on four pitches. Pinch-hitter Daniel Descalso came up, and after falling behind 2-0 in the count, Volquez stopped for a moment, composed himself with a deep breath, and eventually got the strikeout.
That left it up to Owings, another pinch-hitter.
Strike one.
Strike two.
And then came a swing and a miss at a change-up for strike three, one that got away from catcher J.T. Realmuto for a brief moment before he fired to Justin Bour at first as the Marlins swarmed the field in celebration.
"Great mentor, great leader on the team," Realmuto said, as three workers on the field dug up the rubber for Volquez. "It's really awesome to see a guy like that get an accomplishment like this."
It was the Marlins' first no-hitter since Henderson Alvarez pitched one against Detroit on the final day of the 2013 regular season.
"It's always a special moment," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "Something's going right."
Bour had two hits and two RBI for the Marlins, Giancarlo Stanton scored twice and Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna both had two hits. Miami gave Volquez two insurance runs in the eighth, though they were hardly needed.
Randall Delgado (1-1) gave up six hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings for Arizona.
Volquez threw a one-hitter for San Diego against Houston in 2012 -- the only blemish that night coming on a fourth-inning infield single by the Astros' Matt Downs. A no-no bid for Pittsburgh in 2014 snapped on a leadoff single in the seventh by Cincinnati's Devin Mesoraco.
The Marlins' defense came up big for him in the fourth. Dee Gordon dove left to snare a grounder by Fuentes for the first out -- "he saved the no-hitter right there," Volquez said -- and Bour tagged out Paul Goldschmidt after a throw by shortstop JT Riddle came in high. Goldschmidt was called safe at first, and it would have been an error anyway, but the play was overruled after review anyway.
Volquez is the epitome of a baseball journeyman. The Marlins are his seventh franchise in his 13 big league seasons, and he came into Saturday with just a 90-86 career record.
He was an All-Star in 2008, when he went 17-6 with Cincinnati. In 2015, Volquez helped Kansas City win the World Series crown and started Game 1 on the same day his father died.
"This is one of those days, you didn't know what was going to happen," Volquez said. "And today I had a no-hitter."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Diamondbacks: Arizona rested Owings (3 for his last 22, before the appearance in the ninth) and LF Yasmany Tomas (3 for his last 25). OF Gregor Blanco (thumb) was out of the lineup for a second straight day, and the Diamondbacks said RHP Braden Shipley will start in place of RHP Taijuan Walker (blister) on Sunday.
Marlins: 3B Martin Prado (hamstring) has been taking ground balls and is continuing to work his way back, with the expectation remaining that he could return within two weeks.
BARK AT THE PARK
Fans could bring their dogs (and many did, since barking was heard all day throughout Marlins Park by the 615 canines in attendance) to Saturday's game, part of an event designed to support the Humane Society of Greater Miami.
MARLINS HISTORY
Besides Alvarez, Sanchez and now Volquez, the other no-hitters for the Marlins were thrown by A.J. Burnett, Kevin Brown and Al Leiter. The complete game was the first in exactly three years for Miami, ending the longest such drought in the majors; Alvarez blanked Tampa Bay 1-0 on June 3, 2014.
UP NEXT
Shipley (0-1, 6.75) starts for Arizona against Miami's Vance Worley (0-2, 4.50) in the series finale.
Arizona Diamondbacks
A couple hours later, nothing was hurting.
He stuck around -- and pitched the game of his life.
Volquez threw the sixth no-hitter in Marlins history, facing the minimum 27 batters on Saturday and beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-0. Tied for the major league lead in losses when the game began, he struck out 10, and the two baserunners who reached on walks were erased by double plays.
He needed 98 pitches, the last of those striking out Chris Owings to complete the masterpiece.
"When I passed the seventh, I said, `I'm going to go for it," Volquez said. "And I got it."
It's the first no-hitter in the majors since Jake Arrieta did it for the Cubs on April 21, 2016, at Cincinnati, and the first time Arizona was no-hit since the Marlins' Anibal Sanchez threw one on Sept. 6, 2006.
Volquez (2-7) was nearly knocked out of the game after just one batter, when he collided with Diamondbacks leadoff man Rey Fuentes as he covered first, rolled his ankle and took a hard fall to the turf.
"I thought I broke my ankle," he kidded after the game.
Alas, that was the only hit the Diamondbacks got. Luckily for Volquez, body blows don't show up in the scorebook.
"I have faith in God," Fuentes said. "And if there was a plan for Volquez, today was his day."
The 33-year-old righty was one of the pitchers the Marlins brought in this past offseason in part to fill the void caused by the death of ace Jose Fernandez, who died in a boat crash last September.
Fernandez was very much on Volquez's mind Saturday.
So was Yordano Ventura, the Kansas City pitcher who was killed in a car crash in the Dominican Republic in January. Saturday would have been Ventura's 26th birthday. He and Volquez were not just countrymen, but close friends.
"It was special for me to dedicate the game to him," Volquez said.
Volquez's first season in Miami started about as badly as possible; the Marlins lost eight of his first nine starts and Volquez dropped his first seven decisions.
Yet on this day, he was nearly perfect.
"Just a lot of things lined up," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "And his stuff was really, really good."
Nick Ahmed -- who broke up a no-hit bid by Milwaukee's Chase Anderson in the eighth inning one week earlier -- led off the ninth for Arizona and struck out on four pitches. Pinch-hitter Daniel Descalso came up, and after falling behind 2-0 in the count, Volquez stopped for a moment, composed himself with a deep breath, and eventually got the strikeout.
That left it up to Owings, another pinch-hitter.
Strike one.
Strike two.
And then came a swing and a miss at a change-up for strike three, one that got away from catcher J.T. Realmuto for a brief moment before he fired to Justin Bour at first as the Marlins swarmed the field in celebration.
"Great mentor, great leader on the team," Realmuto said, as three workers on the field dug up the rubber for Volquez. "It's really awesome to see a guy like that get an accomplishment like this."
It was the Marlins' first no-hitter since Henderson Alvarez pitched one against Detroit on the final day of the 2013 regular season.
"It's always a special moment," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "Something's going right."
Bour had two hits and two RBI for the Marlins, Giancarlo Stanton scored twice and Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna both had two hits. Miami gave Volquez two insurance runs in the eighth, though they were hardly needed.
Randall Delgado (1-1) gave up six hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings for Arizona.
Volquez threw a one-hitter for San Diego against Houston in 2012 -- the only blemish that night coming on a fourth-inning infield single by the Astros' Matt Downs. A no-no bid for Pittsburgh in 2014 snapped on a leadoff single in the seventh by Cincinnati's Devin Mesoraco.
The Marlins' defense came up big for him in the fourth. Dee Gordon dove left to snare a grounder by Fuentes for the first out -- "he saved the no-hitter right there," Volquez said -- and Bour tagged out Paul Goldschmidt after a throw by shortstop JT Riddle came in high. Goldschmidt was called safe at first, and it would have been an error anyway, but the play was overruled after review anyway.
Volquez is the epitome of a baseball journeyman. The Marlins are his seventh franchise in his 13 big league seasons, and he came into Saturday with just a 90-86 career record.
He was an All-Star in 2008, when he went 17-6 with Cincinnati. In 2015, Volquez helped Kansas City win the World Series crown and started Game 1 on the same day his father died.
"This is one of those days, you didn't know what was going to happen," Volquez said. "And today I had a no-hitter."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Diamondbacks: Arizona rested Owings (3 for his last 22, before the appearance in the ninth) and LF Yasmany Tomas (3 for his last 25). OF Gregor Blanco (thumb) was out of the lineup for a second straight day, and the Diamondbacks said RHP Braden Shipley will start in place of RHP Taijuan Walker (blister) on Sunday.
Marlins: 3B Martin Prado (hamstring) has been taking ground balls and is continuing to work his way back, with the expectation remaining that he could return within two weeks.
BARK AT THE PARK
Fans could bring their dogs (and many did, since barking was heard all day throughout Marlins Park by the 615 canines in attendance) to Saturday's game, part of an event designed to support the Humane Society of Greater Miami.
MARLINS HISTORY
Besides Alvarez, Sanchez and now Volquez, the other no-hitters for the Marlins were thrown by A.J. Burnett, Kevin Brown and Al Leiter. The complete game was the first in exactly three years for Miami, ending the longest such drought in the majors; Alvarez blanked Tampa Bay 1-0 on June 3, 2014.
UP NEXT
Shipley (0-1, 6.75) starts for Arizona against Miami's Vance Worley (0-2, 4.50) in the series finale.
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Arizona - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Edinson Volquez pitching for Miami | ARI | MIA |
| Fuentes grounded out to first. | 0 | 0 |
| Peralta grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| Goldschmidt struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Miami - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Randall Delgado pitching for Arizona | ARI | MIA |
| Gordon flied out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Stanton singled to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Yelich grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Stanton out at second. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Edinson Volquez pitching for Miami | ARI | MIA |
| Lamb flied out to left. | 0 | 0 |
| Herrmann grounded out to first. | 0 | 0 |
| Drury lined out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Miami - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Randall Delgado pitching for Arizona | ARI | MIA |
| Ozuna flied out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Bour popped out to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Realmuto fouled out to first. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Edinson Volquez pitching for Miami | ARI | MIA |
| Ahmed struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| Mathis grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| Delgado struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Miami - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Randall Delgado pitching for Arizona | ARI | MIA |
| Dietrich struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Riddle struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Volquez singled to left. | 0 | 0 |
| Gordon lined out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Edinson Volquez pitching for Miami | ARI | MIA |
| Fuentes grounded out to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Peralta grounded out to pitcher. | 0 | 0 |
| Goldschmidt grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Miami - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Randall Delgado pitching for Arizona | ARI | MIA |
| Stanton walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Yelich fouled out to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Ozuna singled to center, Stanton to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Bour singled to shallow left, Stanton scored, Ozuna to third. | 0 | 1 |
| Realmuto struck out swinging. | 0 | 1 |
| Dietrich flied out to center. | 0 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Edinson Volquez pitching for Miami | ARI | MIA |
| Lamb walked. | 0 | 1 |
| Herrmann struck out swinging. | 0 | 1 |
| Drury grounded into double play, shortstop to first, Lamb out at second. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, -1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Miami - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Randall Delgado pitching for Arizona | ARI | MIA |
| Riddle struck out looking. | 0 | 1 |
| Volquez safe at first on error by third baseman Lamb. | 0 | 1 |
| Gordon singled to left, Volquez to second. | 0 | 1 |
| Stanton grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Gordon out at second. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Edinson Volquez pitching for Miami | ARI | MIA |
| Ahmed grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 1 |
| Mathis fouled out to first. | 0 | 1 |
| Delgado flied out to center. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Miami - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Randall Delgado pitching for Arizona | ARI | MIA |
| Yelich singled to left. | 0 | 1 |
| Yelich stole second. | 0 | 1 |
| Ozuna grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 1 |
| McFarland relieved Delgado. | 0 | 1 |
| Bour grounded out to second, Yelich to third. | 0 | 1 |
| Realmuto intentionally walked. | 0 | 1 |
| Realmuto stole second. | 0 | 1 |
| Dietrich grounded out to second. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Edinson Volquez pitching for Miami | ARI | MIA |
| Fuentes struck out swinging. | 0 | 1 |
| Peralta grounded out to second. | 0 | 1 |
| Goldschmidt struck out swinging. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Miami - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| T.J. McFarland pitching for Arizona | ARI | MIA |
| Riddle grounded out to first. | 0 | 1 |
| Volquez struck out swinging. | 0 | 1 |
| Gordon struck out swinging. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Edinson Volquez pitching for Miami | ARI | MIA |
| Lamb struck out swinging. | 0 | 1 |
| Herrmann walked. | 0 | 1 |
| Drury grounded into double play, third to second to first, Herrmann out at second. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Miami - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| J.J. Hoover pitching for Arizona | ARI | MIA |
| Hoover relieved McFarland. | 0 | 1 |
| Stanton walked. | 0 | 1 |
| Yelich singled to left, Stanton to second. | 0 | 1 |
| Ozuna singled to center, Stanton scored, Yelich to second. | 0 | 2 |
| Bour doubled to deep right, Yelich scored, Ozuna to third. | 0 | 3 |
| Realmuto struck out swinging. | 0 | 3 |
| Dietrich intentionally walked. | 0 | 3 |
| Riddle grounded into fielder's choice to first, Ozuna out at home, Bour to third, Dietrich to second. | 0 | 3 |
| Volquez struck out swinging. | 0 | 3 |
| 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Edinson Volquez pitching for Miami | ARI | MIA |
| Ahmed struck out swinging. | 0 | 3 |
| Descalso hit for Mathis. | 0 | 3 |
| Descalso struck out swinging. | 0 | 3 |
| Owings hit for Hoover. | 0 | 3 |
| Owings struck out swinging. | 0 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
Arizona Diamondbacks
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuentes CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | .136 | .156 | .182 |
| Peralta RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | .307 | .356 | .447 |
| Goldschmidt 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | .302 | .426 | .566 |
| Lamb 3B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | .280 | .367 | .560 |
| Herrmann LF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | .169 | .289 | .390 |
| Drury 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | .284 | .323 | .437 |
| Ahmed SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | .276 | .310 | .463 |
| Mathis C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .163 | .198 | .304 |
a-Descalso PH
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .214 | .333 | .393 |
| Delgado P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
Hoover P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
b-Owings PH
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .302 | .340 | .462 |
| Totals | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 98 | |||
| a-struck out swinging for J Mathis in the 9th b-struck out swinging for J Hoover in the 9th | ||||||||||
| BATTING GIDP: Drury 2 Team LOB: 0 | ||||||||||
| FIELDING E: Lamb (5, ground ball) DP: 2 (Drury-Ahmed-Goldschmidt, Ahmed-Drury-Goldschmidt). | ||||||||||
Game Information
| Stadium | Marlins Park, Miami, FL |
| Attendance | 21,548 (57.6% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 2:31 |
| Weather | indoors |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Bill Miller, First Base - Kerwin Danley, Second Base - Todd Tichenor, Third Base - Adam Hamari |
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