Gonzalez loses no-hitter in ninth, Doolittle saves 1-0 victory

MIAMI - Imagine the emotions Gio Gonzalez must have felt when he took the mound tonight at Marlins Park. He was pitching in his hometown, with family and friends in attendance. He was pitching in the ballpark that hosted the All-Star Game three weeks ago, a game the left-hander desperately wanted to participate in. And he was pitching on what would have been José Fernández's 25th birthday, a melancholy reminder of a baseball friend who was lost too soon.

Now imagine how Gonzalez managed to channel all those various emotions into one tour de force pitching performance, the performance of his life.

With precision and pace and relative ease, Gonzalez came within three outs of no-hitting the Marlins tonight, his run at history denied when Dee Gordon led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to left-center. Gonzalez departed after that, but Sean Doolittle secured his victory and a tense 1-0 victory for the Nationals by finishing off the ninth.

Gonzalez came oh-so-close, allowing only four batters to reach base through eight innings (three via walk, one via hit-by-pitch). Gordon's single in the ninth was a no-doubter, a line drive over the shortstop's head. Manager Dusty Baker wasted no time walking to the mound and taking the ball from Gonzalez, who received a standing ovation from the announced crowd of 18,962 and tipped his cap on his way back to the dugout.

It would have been the fourth no-hitter in Nationals history, with Gonzalez trying to stand alongside Jordan Zimmermann (who no-hit the Marlins on the final day of the 2014 season) and Max Scherzer (who no-hit the Pirates and the Mets in 2015).

This one won't end up with the same distinction, but it does deserve a special place in the club's lore, not only for what Gonzalez accomplished but the circumstances that surrounded his accomplishment.

It already was an emotional day for Gonzalez before he ever took the mound. Earlier, he and Bryce Harper visited with Fernández's girlfriend and their infant daughter on what would have been the former Marlins ace's birthday. Gonzalez was close with Fernandez, who died in a boat crash in September, and he has had trouble talking about the pitcher in the months since.

On this night, Gonzalez honored his lost friend with a performance the latter surely would have appreciated.

He did allow two Marlins batters to reach base in the first two innings, issuing walks to both Giancarlo Stanton and Tyler Moore. But neither proved damaging; Stanton was thrown out trying to steal second, while Moore was stranded at first base.

Gonzalez was in control from that point on. He retired the side in the third, the fourth, the fifth and the sixth, with the only solid contact coming on Miguel Rojas' leadoff line drive to short in the sixth. No worries, though, because Wilmer Difo ranged to his right to make a lunging catch of Rojas' liner, preserving the no-hitter.

Gonzalez promptly struck out the next two batters to finish off the sixth, then struck out Stanton on three pitches to open the seventh as things began turning especially interesting.

The Nationals were stymied most of the night by Jose Ureña, who carried a one-hit shutout of his own into the sixth. Finally the visitors struck, with Brian Goodwin leading off that frame with a double off the center field wall. Difo bunted Goodwin over to third, setting the stage for Harper to poke an opposite-field single to left for the night's first run.

Handed that 1-0 lead, Gonzalez had no margin for error. He responded by getting through the bottom of the seventh unscathed, making a nifty play on Christian Yelich's comebacker for the second out of the inning.

Gonzalez recorded two quick outs in the eighth, then had a brief hiccup when a curveball struck Rojas in the foot. Up came Ichiro Suzuki to pinch-hit, but Gonzalez calmly got the future Hall of Famer to fly out to center, leaving him three outs from history as the emotions swirled through his body.