Marlins hurler Henderson Alvarez raised his arms in triumph upon completing the last Tigers out of the ninth inning Sunday, thinking he had just twirled a no-hitter. In reality, the score was 0-0 and was moving to the bottom half of the ninth.
That's right. Alvarez had done his job masterfully; he hadn't allowed a single hit through nine innings yet couldn't yet celebrate the thought of a no-hitter because the Marlins hadn't put a run up on the board.
It wasn't until the bottom of the ninth when a Luke Putkonen wild pitch sailed toward the backstop, allowing Giancarlo Stanton to score with the bases loaded and two outs, securing the victory and the no-hitter on the last day of the regular season. On deck during the madness was Alvarez.
It's the first walk-off complete-game no-hitter since Virgil Trucks of the Tigers threw one on May 15, 1952 against Washington.
Alvarez didn't even pitch 100 innings this year. He came up with the Blue Jays organization and although has been a touted prospect, hasn't flourished in the majors yet. He's only 23-years-old. However, all that being said, thank God the Marlins had something to cheer for the last day of the season. It's well documented the ownership is running the 62-win team into the ground inside of a stadium they spent way too much money on.
It's the fourth no-hitter that has occurred on the last day of the season, the fifth in Marlins history and the third this season in MLB.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on @JHelmuth or "like" CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
