MIAMI - Henderson Alvarez pitched a no-hitter with a most bizarre ending, celebrating in the ondeck circle when the Miami Marlins scored on a two-out wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the AL Central champion Detroit Tigers 1-0 Sunday.
After Alvarez finished off the ninth with the game scoreless, he had to wait to see if it would become an official no-hitter. A Major League Baseball ruling in 1991 said only complete games of nine or more innings with no hits would count.
The Marlins loaded the bases and with pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs at bat, Luke Putkonen threw a wild pitch that let Giancarlo Stanton score. Alvarez was on deck, and he took off his batting helmet and started to celebrate with teammates while still wearing his batting gloves.
It was the first no-hitter 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, the Marlins said.
Alvarez (5-6) struck out 4, walked 1 and hit 1 batter against a patchwork Tigers lineup on the last day of the season.
NATIONAL LEAGUE ROCKIES 2, DODGERS 1 Michael Cuddyer won his first batting title and Todd Helton singled in the final game of his career to help visiting Colorado beat Los Angeles. The NL West champion Dodgers, who lost four of their last five games to finish 92-70, will open the NL division series at Atlanta on Thursday. PIRATES 4, REDS 2 Jordy Mercer hit an inside-the-park home run and a triple, and visiting Pittsburgh completed a three-game sweep of Cincinnati in a matchup of teams that will play for the NL wild card. They’ll open the postseason on Tuesday night at Pittsburgh, the Pirates’ first playoff game in 21 years. They’ve met five times in the playoffs: 1970,1972, 1975, 1979 and 1990, when the Reds won their last World Series title.
BRAVES 12, PHILLIES 5 Evan Gattis had a two-run home run among his three hits, Elliot Johnson drove in five runs and the NL East champion Braves beat visiting Philadelphia. The Braves won their first division title since 2005. They will have home-field advantage against the Dodgers in the NL division series, which begins Thursday at Turner Field.
CARDINALS 4, CUBS 0 Matt Carpenter and St. Louis clinched home-field advantage throughout the National League playoffs when they the host Cardinals beat Chicago for their sixth consecutive victory. With the top seed, the NL Central champions will host the wild-card winner in Game 1 of the best-of-five division series on Thursday.
GIANTS 7, PADRES 6 Hunter Pence singled home the winning run with no outs in the ninth inning to lift host San Francisco over San Diego. Francisco Peguero hit his first career home run leading off the ninth to tie it as Huston Street (2-5) blew his second save in 35 chances.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, NATIONALS 2 A.J. Pollock beat out a run-scoring infield single in the eighth inning and host Arizona sent Washington Manager Davey Johnson into retirement with a loss.
METS 3, BREWERS 2 Eric Young Jr. won the NL stolen base crown and helped host New York rally when Milwaukee botched two bunts in the eighth inning. Young swiped two bases in the first, scored on a shallow sacrifice fly and later threw out a runner at the plate from left field.
AMERICAN LEAGUE ORIOLES 7, RED SOX 6 Ryan Flaherty had two hits subbing for Chris Davis after baseball’s home run champ left with a sprained wrist, and host Baltimore wrapped up its season with a victory over playoff-bound Boston. Flaherty hit an RBI single in a five-run fifth and a run-scoring double when the Orioles took the lead for good in the sixth.
YANKEES 5, ASTROS 1, (14) Mark Reynolds hit a tie-breaking homer in a four-run 14th inning, and New York went into an offseason of uncertainty with a victory over Houston, whose 15-game losing streak was the longest at the end of the season in more than a century.
ROYALS 4, WHITE SOX 1 Bruce Chen pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning and visiting Kansas City beat Chicago to finish off its best season in 24 years. Kansas City won three of four in Chicago and went 17-10 in September for its most successful month of the season. The Royals’ 86-76 record was their best mark since they went 92-70 in 1989.
ATHLETICS 9, MARINERS 0 Sonny Gray threw five shutout innings and host Oakland had a pair of four-run innings to close out the regular season with a victory over Seattle in Eric Wedge’s final game as Mariners manager.
Sunday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE NY Mets 3, Milwaukee 2 Pittsburgh 4, Cincinnati 2 Atlanta 12, Philadelphia 5 St. Louis 4, Chicago Cubs 0 San Francisco 7, San Diego 6 Colorado 2, LA Dodgers 1 Arizona 3, Washington 2 AMERICAN LEAGUE Tampa Bay 7, Toronto 6 Baltimore 7, Boston 6 Cleveland 5, Minnesota 1 Kansas City 4, Chicago White Sox 1 NY Yankees 5, Houston 1 (14) Texas 6, LA Angels 2 Oakland 9, Seattle 0 INTERLEAGUE Miami 1, Detroit 0
Sports, Pages 21 on 09/30/2013