On Sunday, July 28,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

Dennis Martínez José Dennis Martínez Ortiz (born May 14, 1955), nicknamed "El Presidente" (The President), is a Nicaraguan professional baseball pitcher. Martínez played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Montreal Expos, Cleveland India ...

of the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

pitched the 13th

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

history, blanking the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

2-0 at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ...

. A native of

Granada, Nicaragua Granada () is a city in western Nicaragua and the capital of the Granada Department. With an estimated population of 104,980 (2021), it is Nicaragua's ninth most populous city. Granada is historically one of Nicaragua's most important cities, eco ...

, Martínez became the first pitcher born outside of the United States to pitch a perfect game. (He has since been joined by

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

native

Félix Hernández Félix Abraham Hernández García (born April 8, 1986), nicknamed "King Félix", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners from 2005 through 2019. On August 15, 2 ...

, who pitched a

in 2012.) The perfect game also made the Dodgers, the losing team in Tom Browning's perfect game in 1988, the first team to be on the losing end of consecutive perfect games; they have since been joined by the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

, who were the losing team in Mark Buehrle's perfect game in 2009 and

Dallas Braden's perfect game On Sunday, May 9, 2010, Major League Baseball pitcher Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game. Braden, a member of the Oakland Athletics, pitched the game against the Tampa Bay Rays and retired all 27 batters. The game took place on Mother's Day i ...

the following year. After completing the perfect game, Martínez slowly walked into the Dodger Stadium dugout, sat down by himself and cried. The perfect game is the last of four no-hitters in Montreal Expos history,

Bill Stoneman William Hambly Stoneman III (born April 7, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player and executive who, during his eight-year (–) pitching career in Major League Baseball, threw two no-hitters; then, as general manager of the Ana ...

having pitched two, in 1969 (the franchise's inaugural season, and only nine games into its history) and 1972, and Charlie Lea in 1981. After the 2004 season, the franchise moved to Washington, D.C., where it became the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

, and would not record the first no-hitter in its Washington history until

Jordan Zimmermann Jordan M. Zimmermann (born May 23, 1986) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers, and Milwaukee Brewers. Zimmermann was a two-time MLB All-Star, an ...

no-hit the Miami Marlins on September 28, 2014.

Game summary

Martínez's mound opponent, Mike Morgan, also pitched all nine innings to receive credit for the complete game. Morgan himself was perfect through five innings, the latest the opposing starter in a perfect game has remained perfect. Hall-of-Famer

Larry Walker Larry Kenneth Robert Walker (born December 1, 1966) is a Canadian former professional baseball right fielder. During his 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played with the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies, and St. Louis Cardinals. I ...

, who played right field for the vast majority of his career, made 81 appearances at first base, one of which was this game. He was involved in 17 of 27 outs: 16 putouts and one

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

. Both runs scored occurred in the top of the seventh inning. Walker hit the only

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI), scoring

Dave Martinez David Martinez (born September 26, 1964) is an American professional baseball coach and former outfielder who is the manager for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as the bench coach for the Tampa Bay ...

on a

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

. On the next at bat, Walker scored on an

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

for the second run, with both errors of the game occurring in the seventh inning by the same player,

Alfredo Griffin Alfredo Claudino Baptist Read Griffin (born October 6, 1957) is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He played shortstop in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams from 1976 to 1993. Playing career Griffin began his career as a m ...

Chris Gwynn Christopher Karlton Gwynn (born October 13, 1964) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He is the younger brother of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn and the uncle of former Major League Baseball outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. Career The California ...

, the younger brother of Hall-of-Famer

Tony Gwynn Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr. (May 9, 1960 – June 16, 2014), nicknamed "Mr. Padre", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played 20 seasons (1982–2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left-handed hit ...

, flew out to

Marquis Grissom Marquis Deon Grissom (born April 17, 1967) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Montreal Expos, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and ...

for the game's final out. Two days earlier, Expos starter Mark Gardner no-hit the Dodgers through nine innings but lost the no-hitter, and eventually the game, in the tenth. The Expos would have become the first team to throw a perfect game and an additional no-hitter in the same series, and would have joined the 1917

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

as the only teams to throw two no-hitters in the same series. On consecutive days of that season, May 5–6,

Ernie Koob Ernest Gerald Koob (September 11, 1892 – November 12, 1941), was a professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1915 to 1919 for the St. Louis Browns. On May 5, 1917, Koob no-hit the eventual World Champion Chicago ...

and

Bob Groom Robert Groom (September 12, 1884 – February 19, 1948), was a professional baseball player who played as a pitcher in two midwest minor leagues and the Pacific Coast League from 1904 to 1908, and then in the Major Leagues from 1909 to 1918. He ...

no-hit the eventual

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. Dodger Stadium, the site of

Sandy Koufax's perfect game Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched a perfect game in the National League against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, September 9, 1965. The game was not televised. Koufax, by retiring 27 consecutive batters without al ...

in 1965, became the first stadium to witness two perfect games; it has since been joined by

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Oakland Coliseum, currently branded as RingCentral Coliseum, is a stadium in Oakland, California. It is part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Complex, with the adjacent Oakland Arena, near Interstate 880. The Coliseum is the home ba ...

and

Safeco Field T-Mobile Park is a retractable roof stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners and has a seating capacity of 47,929. It is in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, near the western ...

. Martínez's exclusive catcher with the Expos,

Ron Hassey Ronald William Hassey (born February 27, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Cleveland Indians (1978–1984), Chicago Cubs (1984), New York Yankees (1985–1986 ...

, had previously caught

Len Barker's perfect game On Friday, May 15, 1981, Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians threw a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Stadium, the 10th perfect game in Major League Baseball history. The Indians defeated the Blue Jays 3–0, as Barker did ...

in 1981, thus making him the first, and to date only, catcher to have caught two Major League perfect games. Hassey also became the second catcher, after

Gus Triandos Gus Triandos (July 30, 1930 – March 28, 2013) was a Greek American professional baseball player and scout. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher and a first baseman for the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and the Detroit Tigers o ...

, to catch a no-hitter in both leagues. The perfect game was the third losing perfect game

played in; he was also on the losing end of Tom Browning's perfect game in 1988, and

in 1981 while with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. Griffin has since been joined by four

in sharing this dubious mark:

Evan Longoria Evan Michael Longoria (born October 7, 1985), nicknamed "Longo", is an American professional baseball third baseman who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2008 through 2017, and the S ...

Carlos Peña Carlos Felipe Peña (born May 17, 1978) is a Dominican former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, C ...

B. J. Upton Melvin Emanuel Upton Jr. (born August 21, 1984), known as B. J. Upton, is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays / Rays, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Pad ...

and

Ben Zobrist Benjamin Thomas Zobrist (; born May 26, 1981), is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, and Chi ...

were all on the losing end of Mark Buehrle's perfect game in 2009,

in 2010, and Félix Hernández's perfect game in 2012.

Boxscore

References

External links

Boxscore of Dennis Martínez's perfect game
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Dennis perfect game 1991 Major League Baseball season Major League Baseball perfect games Montreal Expos Los Angeles Dodgers July 1991 sports events in the United States 1991 in sports in California 1991 in Los Angeles Sports competitions in Los Angeles