Marlins 1, Tigers 0
MIAMI -- Henderson Alvarez pitched a no-hitter, and the Miami Marlins scored in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Detroit Tigers 1-0 Sunday afternoon at Marlins Park.
In the bottom of the ninth, Giancarlo Stanton singled, advanced to second on Logan Morrison's hit and to third on a wild pitch. Chris Coghlan walked to load the bases, and pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs came up. Luke Putkonen (1-3) then threw a wild pitch to allow Stanton to score from third.
It was the third no-hitter in baseball this season and the sixth in Marlins' history. The last Marlins pitcher to throw a no-hitter was Anibal Sanchez in 2006.
The Marlins finished the season with the worst record in the National League at 62-100, but they swept this weekend's series with the Tigers, who had little to play for having already clinched the American League Central.
Detroit finished the regular season 93-69.
Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria kept the no-hitter intact with a spectacular leaping catch of a Ramon Santiago line drive in the third inning.
In the ninth, Alvarez (5-6) made two consecutive plays on comebackers by Alex Avila and Don Kelly. Alvarez fell back on the first one and jumped up on the second. He then struck out Matt Tuiasosopo swinging to end the ninth.
For the game, Alvarez allowed just one walk -- in the ninth -- and threw 99 pitches, 66 for strikes.
Early on, Alvarez was locked in a duel with five-time All-Star pitcher Justin Verlander, who pitched six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out 10.
Verlander, who has never had a hit in his career while playing mostly in games where there was a DH, nearly doubled in the sixth inning.
But the ball bounced foul, just beyond the reach of right fielder Stanton. Verlander struck out on the next pitch and is now 0-for-26 at the plate in his career.
Notes: The Marlins promoted Michael Hill to president of baseball operations, replacing Larry Beinfest, who was fired Friday. Hill, who has been with the Marlins 11 years, had been serving as general manager. The new GM is Dan Jennings, who has been with the Marlins 12 years and was promoted from assistant GM. They will try to turn around a franchise that has had four straight losing seasons. ... South Florida media named RHP Jose Fernandez the Marlins' MVP and Rookie of the Year. Closer Steve Cishek was given the "Good Guy" award, and C Jeff Mathis received the "Jeff Conine Mr. Marlin" honor. ... Marlins 2B Donovan Solano, who was beaned on Saturday, sat out Sunday's game. ... The Marlins entered Sunday with a 3.73 team ERA. The team record is 3.83, set in 1997. ... Tigers RHP Anibal Sanchez on Saturday closed out his regular season with a 2.57 ERA. It is his first league ERA title and the seventh in Tigers' history. The last Tigers' pitcher to achieve the feat was Verlander in 2011. ... The Tigers will open their playoffs Friday at the Oakland A's. It will be the Tigers' first trip to the West Coast since April. It is also a rematch of the 2012 American League Divisional Series, when the Tigers won the decisive fifth game in Oakland. ... The Tigers have yet to announce their pitching rotation against Oakland. The Game 1 starter could be Verlander, Sanchez or AL wins leader Max Scherzer. The other possibility would be Doug Fister. And the Tigers could come back with their Game 1 starter for the fifth game, if needed.
