PAVANO NO-HITS GIANTS
Pudge, D-Lee Buoy Marlins' Offense
MIAMI, May 6 (AP) -- Carl Pavano became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter
in the major leagues this year as the Florida Marlins topped the San Francisco
Giants, 6-0, before a small but boisterous throng at Pro Player Stadium.
Pavano (5-0), who has been stellar in the early going this season featuring an
ERA below one, was in complete command throughout, allowing few hard hit balls
and retiring 26 consecutive batters. Only two Giants reached base safely,
both as the result of walks to open the game. Ray Durham led off the
contest with a base on balls and was thrown out trying to steal second.
Rich Aurilia followed by drawing a free pass of his own but never advanced past
first base. Following the walk to Aurilia, Pavano set down the remaining
26 hitters he faced. The hardest hit ball by a San Francisco batter was
struck by J.T. Snow, who led off the eighth inning with a sharp line drive right
to Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell.
The Marlins took a lead they wouldn't relinquish with a two-run second
inning. Lowell and Derek Lee hit back-to-back doubles to open the frame
off Giants starter Jason Schmidt. Lee's double was the first of three
hits, two of them doubles, in the contest. After striking out Juan
Encarnacion and retiring Andy Fox on a fly ball to center, Schmidt pitched
around Todd Hollandsworth, eventually walking him, to face Pavano, who entered
the game without a hit. But the Marlins starter helped his own cause,
lining a double into the left field corner, scoring Lee to up the lead to
2-0. Juan Pierre grounded out to end the inning.
Florida broke the game open, and took a lot of the pressure off of Pavano in the
process, with three runs in the fifth. Pierre drew a one-out walk and
stole second base. Luis Castillo reached on a base on balls to put runners
at first and second, bringing Ivan Rodriguez to the plate. The Marlins
catcher picked out a 2-1 fastball and drove it over the out-of-town scoreboard
in left field for a three-run home run and a 5-0 Florida lead.
The Marlins added another run for good measure off reliever Chad Zerbe in the
seventh. Pierre led off with a double and was sacrificed to third by
Castillo. Rodriguez then drove in his fourth run of the game with a base
hit to up the advantage to 6-0.
Pavano, meanwhile, was simply cruising through the San Francisco lineup,
completing the game while throwing only 90 pitches--the lowest pitch count in a
complete game by a major league starting pitcher to date this season.
Jamie Moyer of the Seattle Mariners held the previous low mark, 92, in a victory
over Texas on April 13. That same game was the deepest a pitcher had taken
a no-hitter into a contest this year; the Rangers' Mark Texeira broke up Moyer's
bid with a one-out ninth inning single. Pavano's teammate, Mark Redman,
saw a no-hitter come to an end with two outs in the eighth inning on a double
off the bat of Todd Pratt of the Philadelphia Phillies on April 3.
5/6/2003, SF03-Fla03, Pro Player Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Giants 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2003 Marlins 0 2 0 0 3 0 1 0 x 6 9 0 8 0 Giants AB R H BI AVG Marlins AB R H BI AVG Durham 2b 3 0 0 0 .280 Pierre cf 3 2 1 0 .198 Aurilia ss 2 0 0 0 .302 Castillo,L 2b 3 1 1 0 .276 Bonds lf 3 0 0 0 .348 Rodriguez,I c 4 1 2 4 .283 Cruz,Jo rf 3 0 0 0 .243 Lowell 3b 4 1 1 0 .285 Snow 1b 3 0 0 0 .333 Lee,De 1b 3 1 3 1 .301 Santiago,B c 3 0 0 0 .333 Encarnacion rf 4 0 0 0 .256 Alfonzo 3b 3 0 0 0 .315 Fox,A ss 4 0 0 0 .071 Grissom cf 3 0 0 0 .336 Hollandsworth lf 2 0 0 0 .215 Schmidt p 2 0 0 0 .000 Pavano p 4 0 1 1 .071 Zerbe p 0 0 0 0 .000 31 6 9 6 Benard ph 1 0 0 0 .310 26 0 0 0 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Schmidt L 3-2 6.0 6 5 5 4 6 107 62 4.05 Zerbe 2.0 3 1 1 2 1 43 24 3.14 8.0 9 6 6 6 7 150 86 Marlins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Pavano W 5-0 9.0 0 0 0 2 6 90 56 0.89 9.0 0 0 0 2 6 90 56 SF : Benard batted for Zerbe in the 9th 2B-Pierre(7), Lowell(14), Lee,De 2(11), Pavano(1). HR-Rodriguez,I(3). RBI-Rodriguez,I 4(24), Lee,De(17), Pavano(2). SB-Pierre(7), Lee,De(4), Hollandsworth(1). CS-Durham. K-Durham, Bonds, Cruz,Jo, Grissom, Schmidt 2, Encarnacion 3, Fox,A, Hollandsworth, Pavano 2. BB-Durham, Aurilia, Pierre 2, Castillo,L, Lee,De, Hollandsworth 2. SH-Castillo,L. GWRBI: Lee,De Temperature: 83, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: in from right at 7 MPH. Attendance: 13,820 Game Time: 2:27