Al Leiter Stats

Lefthander Al Leiter was an unlikely candidate to pitch a no-hitter. He had only four complete games in his big league career, and in 1995 with Toronto had led the American League in walks and wild pitches. And he hadn't pitched in six days.

But in his eighth start of the season after signing with Florida as a free agent during the winter, the 30-year-old hurled the first no-hitter in Marlins history. He did it before a crowd of 31,549 at Joe Robbie Stadium.

Leiter carried a 5-2 record into the fray on Saturday May 11. The hard-hitting Rockies countered with Mark Thompson. Both teams were in fourth place - the Marlins in the NL East and the Rockies in the NL West.

Six Rockies went down on strikes, two walked, and one was hit by a pitch. Mixing fastballs with sliders and an occasional curve, Leiter threw just 103 pitches, and only two balls were hit to the outfield. The Marlins had no tough defensive chances.

Leiter got off to a quick start by getting Eric Young on a popup to short, Walt Weiss on a popup to second and Dante Bichette on a fly to left. But he ran into trouble in the second when he issued a leadoff walk to Andres Galarraga, then hit Ellis Burks with a pitch. Vinny Castilla went down on strikes before Trent Hubbard gave Leiter a lift by grounding into a 6-4-3 double play.

Jayhawk Owens drew a walk to start the third, but he was erased on a double play as pitcher John Habyan tapped back to the mound to begin a 1-6-4 twin-killing.

Meanwhile, Leiter continued to mow down the Rockies. He retired the last 20 batters in a row, including Bichette and Galarraga on strikes in the seventh.

Right before the twin whiffs, Weiss had come close to a hit when he hit a hard grounder down the third base line. The ball was foul by two feet, however, and Weiss completed the at-bat by fouling out to Johnson, who made the catch straining against the backstop.

In the eighth, Leiter retired Burks on a grounder to second, Castilla on a fly to center, and pinch-hitter Jason Bates on a lazy pop back to the mound.

Throwing a fastball clocked at 95 mph, Leiter, en route to a 16-12 record for the season, breezed through the ninth. Owens grounded out to Greg Colbrunn at first. Then Quinton McCracken hit a grounder up the middle that second baseman Craig Grebeck gloved near the bag and threw to first for the out. The end came when Young went down swinging on a 3-2 pitch.