MIAMI _ Gio Gonzalez spent a portion of his Monday afternoon not preparing for his start against the Miami Marlins, but meeting the 5-month-old daughter of his late friend, Jose Fernandez, in the bowels of Marlins Park, part of a larger family commemoration of what would have been Fernandez's 25th birthday.
Gonzalez spent Monday night nearly no-hitting the team Fernandez left behind.
The Washington Nationals beat the Marlins, 1-0, on a night Gonzalez held Miami without a hit until the ninth inning.
With three outs left, Dee Gordon lined a single to center field to end the no-no bid. Giancarlo Stanton, batting as the potential winning run, grounded into a double play to end the Marlins' only scoring threat of the night.
A no-hitter would have been the second of the year in the majors and at Marlins Park. Right-hander Edinson Volquez's threw a no-hitter June 3 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Gonzalez dominated from the start. Miami had baserunners in the first two innings, on walks to Stanton and Tyler Moore. Then Gonzalez settled in, at one point retiring 14 in a row and 18 of 19 into the eighth inning.
The Marlin who came closest to a hit might have been third baseman Mike Aviles, who in the second inning popped up to shallow center. Brian Goodwin rushed in and made the sliding grab to end the inning and preserve what at the time seemed like an innocuous two strong innings.
Gonzalez's history overshadowed a tremendous effort from Marlins right-hander Jose Urena, who allowed one run in eight innings.
Urena scattered three hits and a walk, striking out six. He threw more than 15 pitches in an inning only once.
The Nationals broke through against Urena with a run in the sixth inning. After Brian Goodwin led off with a double off the center-field wall and Wilmer Difo sacrifice bunted him over to third, Bryce Harper lined a single to left field, scoring Goodwin.
Urena retired his final seven batters after Harper's go-ahead knock.
That was all Gonzalez needed.
