Henderson Alverez No Hits The Detroit Tigers

In a season that has been marked by bad baseball, the Miami Marlins end the season on a very high note. Not only did they close out the season with a three game sweep of the AL Central Champions the Detroit Tigers, they did so behind Henderson Alverez and his no hitter, the third in the big leagues this year. Alverez joins Homer Bailey (July 2nd) and Tim Lincecum (July 13th) to throw no no's in the bigs this season. And the kicker with this no hitter is, Alverez had to wait for the Marlins to score a run in the bottom of the 9th to make it stand up. This game ended on a wild pitch. Giancarlo Stanton crossed the plate standing up when a breaking ball skipped to the backstop, and Alvarez had his no-hitter, beating the Tigers on the final day of the regular season Sunday, 1-0.

Alverez struck out four, walked one and hit one batter. It was a patchwork Tigers lineup, as they had already clinched a playoff spot and division title. But lets not take anything away from Alverez, he still had to be on his game in order to get the no-hitter. It doesn't matter whether its a patchwork lineup, or the Tigers regulars, it still counts as a no-hitter in the record books all the same. It was the fourth season-ending no-hitter ever, and first since Mike Witt of the Angels threw a perfect game at Texas in 1984. In 1975, Vida Blue and three Oakland relievers combined to no-hit the Angels and in 1892, Bumpus Jones of Cincinnati did it against Pittsburgh, according to STATS. So this was a big day for baseball. This isn't the first time a Marlins pitcher has thrown a no hitter. It is actually the 5th in franchise history. The other four are:

Sept. 6, 2006 Anibal Sanchez vs. D-backs 2-0 W
May 12, 2001 A.J. Burnett vs. Padres 3-0 W
June 10, 1997 Kevin Brown vs. Giants 9-0 W
May 11, 1996 Al Leiter vs. Rockies 11-0 W

Of the 282 no-hitters in history, it was the only one to end on a wild pitch, according to STATS. And it was the first walk-off complete-game no-hitter since Virgil Trucks of the Tigers threw one on May 15, 1952, against Washington. So its a great way to end the season for the Marlins!