Nationals’ Gio Gonzalez Loses No-Hitter vs. Marlins With No Outs in Ninth
Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez threw eight hitless innings against the Marlins on Monday night before Dee Gordon led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single up the middle.
Closer Sean Doolittle then came in and closed out a 1–0 game.
Gonzalez struck out five and walked three in his first eight innings of action, while throwing 103 pitches. He also hit a batter.
The Marlins also came close to getting a hit was when Miguel Rojas hit a sharp, low line drive to shortstop in the sixth, but Wilmer Difo was able to make a diving catch.
It was an emotional night for Gonzalez, a Miami-area native and friend of late Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez. Monday would have been Ferandnez’s 25th birthday and his family marked the occasion by visiting the ballpark for the first time since his passing. Gonzalez met with the family, including Fernandez’s five-month-old daughter, Penelope, before the game.
After the game, Gonzalez was overcome with emotion while discussing Fernandez.
The home crowd also gave the visiting pitcher a standing ovation as he left the mound in the ninth.
Gonzalez’s teammate Max Scherzer has flirted with a no-hitter on several occasions this season but has not thrown one since October 2015. That was the last no-hitter by a Nationals pitcher.
The only other no-hitter of 2017 was thrown by Marlins pitcher Edinson Volquez on June 3 against the Diamondbacks. Miami has not been no-hit since Washington’s Jordan Zimmerman threw a no-no on Sept. 28, 2014.
