Miami Marlins Pitcher Edinson Volquez Hurls Season’s First No-Hitter

The 2017 baseball season has been in full swing for nearly a month and a half now and as of Saturday, the first no-hitter is officially in the books.

Miami Marlins right-hander Edinson Volquez stymied the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 3-0 victory in front of a home crowd at Marlins Park.

It was the first no-hitter in over a year since Jake Arietta of the World Series champion Chicago Cubs posted one last April.

Volquez struck out ten Arizona batters.

The amazing thing is that Volquez was able to retire the 27 batters after a collision with Diamondbacks leadoff man Reymond Fuentes in the first inning.

The Marlins pitcher told Fox Sports’ broadcaster Craig Minervini:

“I thought I broke my ankle,” Volquez said as he laughed. “… In the fourth inning I told (the trainer) I don’t feel too good right now. I might stop pitching. I had a quick inning and I told him just let me go. I feel better now.”

After getting the final out to put his name into the history books, Volquez made a classy gesture by dedicating his efforts to two pitchers who died in tragic accidents.

According to ESPN “Edinson Volquez dedicates no-hitter to Yordano Ventura, Jose Fernandez”:

After striking out Diamondbacks hitter Chris Owings to complete his first career no-hitter Saturday, Marlins pitcher Edinson Volquez dedicated his performance to two dear friends.

In his postgame interview, Volquez paid tribute to pitchers Yordano Ventura and Jose Fernandez, who both tragically died in the past year.

Volquez and Ventura were teammates with the Kansas City Royals, helping the team capture the 2015 World Series title. Ventura died in a car crash in his native Dominican Republic in January.

AND

Volquez also dedicated his achievement to Fernandez, the late Marlins pitcher who died in a boat crash last September. Volquez was one of the pitchers the Marlins brought in this past offseason in part to fill the void caused by the death of Fernandez.

The Marlins were struck hard when their talented young pitcher was killed in a boating accident in Miami Beach last September. Fernandez was destined for stardom until his life was tragically cut short.

The Marlins and Diamondbacks will close out the series on Sunday afternoon at 1:10 ET.