Martinez Racks Up No-Hitter Pitcher Had Perfect Game Through 7 2/3 Of 7-0 Dodgers Win

Dodgers starter Ramon Martinez’s eyes started to swell with tears Friday night the moment the ball left Quilvio Veras’s bat and dropped into left fielder Roberto Kelly’s glove.

He turned around, waited for catcher Mike Piazza, and leaped mightily into his arms, celebrating the most glorious night of his baseball career. Martinez became the first pitcher this season to throw a no-hitter, shutting out the Florida Marlins, 7-0, and coming within one batter of pitching a perfect game.

The announced crowd of 30,998, some who viciously booed Martinez in his last start at Dodger Stadium, this time were screaming until their lungs hurt.

Martinez, letting the crowd know that all is forgiven, kept pumping his right fist into the air, over and over again, soaking in the affection. This was no time for bitterness.

“I have pride,” said Martinez (9-6), “and I wanted to let people know that I can still pitch. You know something - I think people had forgotten about me.”

No more.

Martinez, whose younger brother, Pedro Martinez of the Montreal Expos, pitched a perfect game for nine innings last month against the San Diego Padres, will remain etched in the Dodgers record book.

He becomes the 19th pitcher in franchise history, and the ninth since the team moved to Los Angeles, to throw a no-hitter. It’s the first no-hitter in the major leagues since Kenny Rogers’ no-hitter July 28, 1994, against the California Angels.

“I swear to God on my father’s grave,” Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda said, “I knew he was going to pitch a no-hitter. I told (coach Bill) Russell in the second inning, ‘I’m going to tell you something after the game.”’

Why not tell him then? “You kidding, I didn’t want to chance it. I sat on the same seat during the game. I never moved. I never even went to the bathroom.”

The Dodgers broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth on Jose Offerman’s bases-loaded triple.

Martinez, who had not thrown anything but a fastball since the third inning, came out in the ninth while the crowd roared. He looked at Piazza, and Piazza kept signaling for fastballs.