Dennis Martinez pitched a perfect game for Montreal on Sunday, and better yet for the Expos, they won.
Martinez tossed the 15th perfect game in major league history as the Expos beat Los Angeles 2-0. Martinez's no-hitter came less than 48 hours after Mark Gardner pitched nine no-hit innings for the Expos against the Dodgers but gave up a leadoff single in the 10th and eventually lost the game, 1-0."I was really going from the first hitter to the last hitter," Martinez said. "The way I always do. I was concentrating on the game more than the no-hitter."
Martinez had to as the game was scoreless until the seventh inning when the Expos scored two runs.
"I don't think it's weird, I think it's great," Gardner said. "I was so nervous in the last couple of innings for him, I was shaking and my hands were wet. You don't see perfect games all the time. I can say that I saw one, and all of us were witnesses to this."
The last perfect game was by Cincinnati's Tom Browning, also against Los Angeles, on Sept. 16, 1988, at Riverfront Stadium. It was the second perfect game at Dodger Stadium as Sandy Koufax beat Chicago 1-0 on Sept. 9, 1965.
Mike Scioscia hit a fly ball to medium left field leading off the bottom of the ninth, pinch-hitter Stan Javier then struck out bringing the capacity crowd to its feet. Pinch-hitter Chris Gwynn ended the game by hitting a deep fly to center fielder Marquis Grissom for the final out. Gwynn also made the final out in Browning's perfect game.
"It was scary," Martinez (11-6) said. "I thought he hit it very well. But then it wasn't going very far."
After Gwynn made it a perfect day for Montreal, the Expos charged to the mound to greet Martinez, and the fans stayed on and cheered.
"I was blank. There was nothing in my mind," Martinez said of his reaction when the game ended. "I had no words to say. I could only cry. I didn't know how to express myself. I didn't know how to respond to this kind of game."
Martinez, a native of Nicaragua, is the first opposing pitcher to throw a complete-game no-hitter in the 30-year history of Dodger Stadium. He's also the first to pitch a complete-game no-hitter against the Dodgers at home since Johnny Vander Meer beat Brooklyn on June 15, 1938, at Ebbets Field.
"I didn't know if that was me down there," Martinez said. "I thought I was dreaming."
Martinez, a member of the All-Star team, was nearly out of baseball after the 1986 season. But he overcame an alcohol problem to become the ace of the Expos' staff.
After 10 seasons with Baltimore, Martinez was traded to the the Expos on June 16, 1986, for a player to be named later. He became a free agent after the 1986 season and started the '87 season as a minor league pitcher.
Martinez, the target of several trade rumors lately, was 10-11 for Montreal last season with a 2.95 ERA, ninth in the league.
"He was keeping everybody off balance, and that's what baseball is all about," Dodgers center fielder Brett Butler said.
Dodgers starter Mike Morgan (9-6) had a perfect game of his own through five innings until Ron Hassey led off the sixth with a single. Hassey was also the catcher when Len Barker pitched a perfect game for Cleveland against Toronto on May 15, 1981. Hassey is the first in major league history to catch two perfect games.
"The people who have been with us all year and have seen Dennis throw know what kind of a pitcher he is," Hassey said. "He's been this way all year. There's been only one or two games when he hasn't had the kind of stuff he had today."
With his fourth shutout, Martinez tied the Dodgers' Ramon Martinez for the major league lead and lowered his ERA to 2.05. The Montreal right-hander struck out five for his 22nd shutout in 401 career starts.
It was the seventh no-hitter in Expos' history and the first perfect game. It was the fifth nine-inning no-hitter of the season, the first coming on May 1 by Texas' Nolan Ryan against Toronto.
Tommy Greene of Philadelphia no-hit the Expos at Montreal on May 23; four Baltimore pitchers combined to no-hit Oakland on July 13 and Gardner pitched nine no-hit innings on Friday.
The closest thing to a hit off Martinez came with one out in the fourth inning when Juan Samuel hit a hard smash to third that Tim Wallach fielded on the lip of the infield grass. Martinez then felt some tightness in his right hip while pitching to Eddie Murray and was allowed to throw two warmup pitches. He shook it off and went on to perfection and a place in baseball history.
The closest Martinez came to losing the perfect game came in the sixth with one out when second baseman Delino DeShields fielded Alfredo Griffin's grounder and made a low throw to first base, nearly pulling Larry Walker off the bag.
Martinez, 36, pitched a one-hitter on June 5, 1985, against California while a member of the Baltimore Orioles.
"Dennis has been the ace of the staff for the last few years now, and he's lived up to the name," Gardner said. "He's been someone you can count on as a quality starter."
The Expos parlayed two fielding errors by shortstop Griffin around a triple to right-center by Walker to score a pair of unearned runs in the seventh off Morgan for their first run in 30 innings. It also snapped a string of 38 consecutive scoreless innings by Dodger pitchers.
The latter streak tied the longest scoreless streak by a Dodger pitching staff in the team's 34 seasons in Los Angeles, first established by the 1966 club. The NL record of 56 consecutive scoreless innings was set by the 1903 Pittsburgh Pirates during the dead-ball era.
"When we got to the fifth inning, I looked up there and said this is incredible, to have two pitching performances like this," Walker said. "It was just an incredible weekend, a three-game set like this having a no-hitter for nine and a perfect game. It's unbelievable."
Morgan and Martinez faced each other for the second time since their duel on April 30 in Montreal, where the two right-handers battled each other through eight scoreless innings before DeShields homered off Morgan leading off the bottom of the ninth.
"Morgan threw an outstanding game," Hassey said. "Someone's got to lose. It's just like the other night with Gardner."
Only this time, the Expos won their no-hitter.
Notes: Los Angeles doesn't have to worry much about being no-hit Monday night. No New York Mets pitcher has ever thrown one . . . During the 38-inning scoreless streak, LA held opposing batters to 15 hits in 125 at-bats (.120) . . . Good omen Dept.: The last two times the Dodgers won a World Series title, they were victimized by a no-hitter. Nolan Ryan threw one against them at Houston in 1981 and Browning's in '88.