Before Edinson Volquez took the mound at Marlins Park on Saturday, baseball had not seen a no-hitter in over a year.
Volquez put an emphatic end to that drought, shutting down the Diamondbacks over nine dazzling innings. He threw only 98 pitches, struck out 10, walked two and allowed no hits in a 3-0 Miami win. The final out came on a strikeout of Nick Ahmed, his third K of the inning.
The final out of the no-hit #Maddux! https://t.co/pGTYjwxxrI pic.twitter.com/IqoGoilD5O
— MLB (@MLB) June 3, 2017
Maybe the most incredible aspect of Volquez’s no-hitter was that he injured his ankle on a collision at first base in the first inning and had to show trainers he could stay in the game. Not only did he keep pitching, he delivered the best performance of his career and one of the best we’ll see all year.
The no-hitter was the sixth in Marlins history and the first since Henderson Alvarez in 2013. Alvarez was also the last pitcher to pull off a no-hitter on less than 100 pitches. Baseball’s most recent no-no had been Jake Arrieta’s gem last April.
The no-hitter is an awesome accomplishment for Volquez, who has had some pretty serious ups and downs in his 13-year career. The righty has pitched for six teams and is best known for winning Game 1 of the 2015 World Series for the Royals, not knowing his father had died earlier that day.
Volquez said after the game that the no-hitter was particularly meaningful for him because it came on the birthday of Yordano Ventura, his friend and former teammate who died last winter. Just Saturday morning, Volquez had posted a photo of himself and Ventura on Instagram.
Earlier today Edinson Volquez posted this to his instagram… Then he goes out and throws a no-hitter pic.twitter.com/Ap3kk2ZL56
— MLB Network Radio (@MLBNetworkRadio) June 3, 2017
He also he wad dedicating his outing to Ventura and former Marlin Jose Fernandez, who died in September.
"I dedicated this game to Jose Fernandez and Yordano Ventura," said Edinson Volquez just now on #Marlins TV.
— Adrian Garro (@adriangarro) June 3, 2017
Prior to Saturday, Volquez’s previous best outing had come on June 20, 2012, when he was pitching for the Padres. That day, he allowed only an infield hit in a complete game shutout.