MIAMI -- Since their inaugural season in 1998, the Arizona Diamondbacks have been one of the toughest teams to no-hit. Only twice before had it happened, which tied with Kansas City for fewest in the Majors, although the Royals have been playing 29 years longer than the D-backs.
But Marlins starter Edinson Volquez had everything working on Saturday, throwing his first career no-hitter in handing the D-backs a 3-0 loss at Marlins Park.
:: Edinson Volquez's no-hitter ::
Volquez faced the minimum and was only two walks shy of a perfect game in his 98-pitch outing (65 strikes). Volquez got double-play grounders from Brandon Drury in the fifth and eighth innings to erase the only baserunners the D-backs could muster -- walks to Jake Lamb and Chris Herrmann, respectively.
Still, it's a rare occasion that the D-backs are victims of a no-hitter. Ironically, the last time the D-backs were no-hit was by the Marlins in 2006 at their former home, Pro Player Stadium. Marlins pitcher Anibal Sanchez twirled that no-no in a 2-0 win on Sept. 6.
That particular game ended the longest no-hitter drought in Major League history in terms of number of games played (6,364), snapping a streak that started with Randy Johnson's perfect game in 2004.
The only other time the D-backs have been no-hit was on June 25, 1999. St. Louis right-hander Jose Jimenez threw the gem for a 1-0 win at Bank One Ballpark.
But what Volquez was able to accomplish was no small feat. The D-backs came into the game third in the National League and fifth in the Majors with a team batting average of .261.

"His command, he was hitting his spots pretty well," Herrmann said of Volquez's pinpoint accuracy. "Obviously he had a great changeup today that kept a lot of our hitters off-balance today."

Arizona was held hitless through five innings for the third time this season, which is tied with the Mets (twice by Miami) for the most in the big leagues.
"You could kind of see the tension in the dugout, not on the field, people getting a little bit worried," Herrmann said. "But that's baseball. He pitched really well, and obviously you don't want to be the team that gets no-hit, but it happened to us. That's baseball."
The no-hitter almost ended before it began. Arizona leadoff hitter Rey Fuentes collided with Volquez, who raced over to cover first on a grounder to Justin Bour. Volquez hobbled around the mound before tossing a couple of warmup pitches and remaining in the game.

"He had a good day," Fuentes said. "Everything was going towards him. I didn't believe he would get that far. We're a good team, hitting-wise. Some people have their days, and it was him [today].
"He was mixing his pitches good. His slider, changeup, sinker was going through our swing. It was hitting his spots. I understand we got a little antsy at the plate. But there's always tomorrow."
Though a bit dejected at the moment, Fuentes said he knows this game won't define the season.
"It's a long season," Fuentes said. "We can't just take this loss and drag it through the whole season. We'll just go home and think about what we can do better and just bring it tomorrow."