MIAMI – Anibal Sanchez was standing behind the mound when the scoreboard caught his eye, confirming what he already knew: He was one out from a no-hitter.
He froze. For a couple of seconds, the Florida Marlins rookie didn't move.
“I said, 'Wow. This hitter is the last one,' ” Sanchez said.
Then he collected himself and, in this year of sensational rookies, finished up the greatest performance yet.
The 22-year-old Venezuelan brought the longest period without a no-hitter in major league history to a close last night, benefiting from three defensive gems by teammates to lead the Marlins over the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0.
“This is the best moment of my life,” Sanchez said. “You never think that's going to happen.”
One of four rookies in the Florida rotation, Sanchez (7-2) walked four and pitched around an error. He struck out six and threw 103 pitches in his 13th career start.
Sanchez finished it off quickly in the ninth. He struck out Conor Jackson swinging on a 1-2 pitch, got Luis Gonzalez to pop out to third, then retired Eric Byrnes on a sharp grounder to shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who fielded the ball carefully on one knee before throwing to first for the out on a close play.
“The last ground ball, I wasn't going to flub that,” said Ramirez, another rookie. “It wasn't going to get past me.”
Before Ramirez even threw the ball, third baseman Miguel Cabrera began sprinting toward Sanchez and was the first to arrive with a hug. Players poured out of the Marlins dugout en masse and swarmed around the pitcher, with the jubilant mob collectively hopping between the mound and third base.
“That was a lot of bouncing,” said Wes Helms, who caught Ramirez's throw for the final out. “It's once-in-a-lifetime for a lot of people.”
“The most special moment was his face and how proud he was – and exhausted,” left fielder Josh Willingham said.
Sanchez pointed and thrust his fists to the small crowd, where his wife sat in stands.
It was the first no-hitter in the majors since Arizona's Randy Johnson threw a perfect game to beat Atlanta 2-0 on May 18, 2004.
“Congratulations to him,” Johnson said, after himself flirting with a no-hitter last night against Kansas City before surrendering a leadoff triple in the seventh.
Sanchez's performance ended a stretch of 6,364 major league games between no-hitters. The longest gap previously was 4,015 games from Sept. 30, 1984, to Sept. 16, 1986, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The most recent no-hitter by a rookie was by St. Louis' Bud Smith, who beat the Padres 4-0 on Sept. 1, 2001.
The Diamondbacks came close to a hit several times but were denied by a Marlins defense that ranks next-to-last in the NL.
Ramirez ranged to his left to snare a grounder by Stephen Drew in the seventh, then whirled and threw to beat the runner by half a step.
Josh Willingham sprinted in to make a diving catch and rob Chad Tracy with two on to end the fourth, and a rare 4-3-6 double play ended the eighth.
| Arizona |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
BB |
SO |
Avg. |
|
| OHudson 2b |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.289 |
|
| CJackson 1b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
.275 |
|
| LGonzalez lf |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
.273 |
|
| Byrnes cf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.275 |
|
| Tracy 3b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
.277 |
|
| Quentin rf |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.230 |
|
| Drew ss |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.308 |
|
| Montero c |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
|
| EdGonzalez p |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.250 |
|
| Pena p |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
| a-Counsell ph |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
.261 |
|
| JuCruz p |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
| Totals |
27 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
|
|
| Florida |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
BB |
SO |
Avg. |
|
| HaRamirez ss |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
.283 |
|
| Uggla 2b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
.289 |
|
| MiCabrera 3b |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
.334 |
|
| Willingham lf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.277 |
|
| Jacobs 1b |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
.268 |
|
| Helms 1b |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.308 |
|
| Borchard rf |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.236 |
|
| 1-Reed pr-cf |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.114 |
|
| Olivo c |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.268 |
|
| Amezaga cf-rf |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
.274 |
|
| ASanchez p |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.087 |
|
| Totals |
26 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
8 |
|
|
| Arizona |
000 000 000–0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Florida |
010 100 00x–2 |
5 |
1 |
|
| |
a-walked for Pena 8th. 1-ran for Borchard 7th. E–MiCabrera (14). LOB–Ariz. 4, Fla. 6. 2B–Borchard (6). 3B–HaRamirez (10). HR– MiCabrera (24), off EdGonzalez; Borchard (9), off EdGonzalez. RBIs–MiCabrera (103), Borchard (26). CS–HaRamirez (12). S–Amezaga, ASanchez. GIDP–OHudson. RLISP–Ariz. 1 (Tracy); Fla. 3. DP–Fla 1.
|
| Arizona |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
NP |
ERA |
|
| Gonzlz L,1-3 |
6 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
87 |
5.47 |
|
| Pena |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
5.18 |
|
| JuCruz |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
22 |
4.37 |
|
| Florida |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
NP |
ERA |
|
| ASanchez W,7-2 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
103 |
2.89 |
|
| |
Gonzalez pitched to 2 batters 7th. Inherited runners-scored–Pena 2-0. HBP–by EdGonzalez (Olivo). Umpires–Home, Jeff Kellogg; First, Jerry Meals; Second, Mike Reilly; Third, Rob Drake. T–2:13. (tickets sold)– 12,561 (36,331).
