Volquez goes for it in no-no
Edinson Volquez threw the sixth no-hitter in Marlins history, facing the minimum 27 batters yesterday in Miami and beating the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-0.
Volquez (2-7) 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 this season. Arizona was no-hit by the Marlins’ Anibal Sanchez threw one against the Diamondbacks on Sept. 6, 2006.
Volquez 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 left ankle and took a hard fall.
The right-hander 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. His 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. Tied for the majors lead in losses going into yesterday, he was nearly perfect.
Justin Bour had two hits and two RBI for Miami.
Phillies 5, Giants 3 — Ben Lively went seven innings to win his major league debut, Odubel Herrera drove in three runs in a four-run seventh, Tommy Joseph homered and host Philadelphia beat San Francisco. Cubs 5, Cardinals 3— Slumping Kyle Schwarber hit his first career grand slam in the seventh inning off NL ERA leader Mike Leake (5-4) to rally Chicago past visiting St. Louis.
Rockies 10, Padres 1 — Ian Desmond hit a grand slam, Nolan Arenado also homered and Tyler Chatwood (5-7) went eight dominant innings as Colorado smashed host San Diego.
Dodgers 10, Brewers 8 — Chris Taylor followed Cody Bellinger’s RBI walk in the ninth inning with a grand slam to complete visiting Los Angeles’ comeback win against Milwaukee.
Mets 4, Pirates 2 — Neil Walker, Jay Bruce and Wilmer Flores all homered, and Robert Gsellman (4-3) earned the win, as host New York doubled up Pittsburgh.
Braves 6, Reds 5 — Matt Adams hit his first career grand slam and connected again for a solo shot in the 12th inning, pushing Atlanta past host Cincinnati.
American League
Yankees 7, Blue Jays 0 — Brett Gardner, Matt Holliday, Starlin Castro and Didi Gregorius all homered in the eighth inning off Jason Grilli, leading Jordan Montgomery (3-4) and visiting New York to a shutout of Toronto. Astros 6, Rangers 5 — In Arlington, Texas, Carlos Beltran had three hits and drove in three runs as Houston extended its majors-best winning streak to nine by beating Texas. Tigers 10, White Sox 1 — Nicholas Castellanos, Alex Presley, Alex Avila and Justin Upton all homered to back Jordan Zimmermann (5-4) and Detroit against visiting Chicago. Royals 12, Indians 5 — Lorenzo Cain capped a sixrun fifth inning with a tworun homer, and host Kansas City went from trailing 3-0 to clobbering Cleveland.
Interleague
Athletics 10, Nationals 4 — Ryon Healy had two doubles and two homers, Jed Lowrie doubled twice and homered, Yonder Alonso also went deep and Oakland knocked off visiting Washington. Elsewhere in baseball — The Los Angeles Angels’ Albert Pujols hit his 600th career homer in Anaheim, Calif., delivering a grand slam in the fourth inning against the Minnesota Twins to become the ninth player to reach the mark.