Saturday Was A Great Day For Baseball

The Mets beat the Pirates on Saturday, but for the baseball fan in all of us, that was just the tip of the iceberg in the most exciting thing to happen. Saturday was an historic day for Major League Baseball, one that induced chills more than a few times.

First, Marlins pitcher Edinson Volquez threw a magnificent no-hitter against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He struck out 10 batters and walked two on what was an emotional night for him.

Volquez was part of the Royals team that beat the Mets in the 2015 World Series. Also on that team was Yordano Ventura, who died this offseason. The two were very close which made pitching last night extra difficult for Volquez – Saturday would have been Ventura’s 26th birthday. He posted this on Instagram before his start:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BU4pyGmFpcw/

After the game, Volquez dedicated his no-hitter to Ventura.

“This means a lot,” Volquez said. “I was pretty close to him. This really hurts. To do something like I did today, that’s really special for me to dedicate the game to him. It was one of those days you wake up don’t really know what’s going to happen. Next thing you know, you have a no-hitter.”

This was the first complete game thrown by a Marlins starter since 2014. Their last complete game was thrown three years ago to the day, on June 3, 2014 against the Rays by Henderson Alvarez.

Alvarez was the last Marlin to throw a no-hitter when he beat the Tigers on September 29, 2013. During that span, there was another Marlins starter that stood out, but like Ventura, Jose Fernandez sadly died late in the 2016 season.

“Everybody loved Jose,” Volquez said. “I can say that’s for him, too. I really appreciate what he did here and people loved him. I’m really blessed to throw a no-hitter on his bump.”

Volquez is now 2-7 on the year with a 3.79 ERA and 4.16 FIP in 11 starts. In 61 2/3 innings, he has struck out 57 and walked 33.

The second milestone achieved yesterday belonged to Albert Pujols, who slammed his 600th career home run.

In the fourth inning with the bases loaded, Pujols mashed number 600 to power the Angels to a 7-2 win over the Minnesota Twins. The home run came off Ervin Santana who threw a no-hitter for the Angels back in 2011.

The 37-year-old is the ninth player to reach the 600 home run plateau.

“I’m just glad to be on that list,” he said. “It’s a pretty special feeling. You look at all the players that come through the league, to play so long to be No. 9, it’s pretty special. It’s an honor and privilege to be named in the same list and same sentence with those guys, but I really try to stay focused on my goal, and that’s to go and be the best teammate I can be. And hopefully, help this organization to win. That’s the truth.”

The former Rookie of the Year, three-time MVP, four time MVP runner-up, six-time Silver Slugger, two-time Gold Glover, 2003 batting champion and ten-time All Star was destined for the Hall of Fame before he hit No. 600, but this more than cements his place in Cooperstown.

The righty is hitting .249/.299/.410 with nine home runs an 42 RBI so far this season. He leads all active players in runs (1688), doubles (608), home runs (600), RBI (1859), walks (1229), SLG percentage (.569), and total bases (5316). The 37-year-old is making $26 million this season and will make $27 million in 2018, $28 million in 2019, $29 million in 2020, and $30 million in 2021. With four and a half seasons still to go on his contract, stay tuned – number 700 isn’t so improbable.