nibal Sanchez was standing behind the mound when the scoreboard caught his eye, confirming what he already knew: He was one out from a no-hitter. He froze. For a couple of seconds, the Florida Marlins’ rookie didn’t move.

The 22-year-old Venezuelan brought the longest period without a no-hitter in major league history to a close last night, benefiting from three defensive gems by teammates to lead the Marlins over the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-0, in Miami.

The previous no-hitter in the majors was a perfect game by Arizona’s Randy Johnson, who beat Atlanta 2-0 on May 18, 2004. The prior no-hitter by a rookie was by Bud Smith of St. Louis, who beat San Diego 4-0 on Sept. 1, 2001.

Shawn Green busted out of his slump with a huge day at the plate, Oliver Perez pitched his second career shutout for his first win since May, and New York completed a doubleheader sweep of visiting Atlanta with an 8-0 rout.

Jonathan Sanchez won his first major league start and Ray Durham homered twice as San Francisco moved past host Cincinnati in the NL wild card race.

Reds closer Eddie Guardado will have ligament-replacement surgery on his left elbow, an operation that usually sidelines pitchers for at least a year.

Derek Lowe (14-8) allowed three hits and an unearned run in eight innings to help NL West-leading Los Angeles win in Milwaukee and stop a three-game losing streak.

Rookie Paul McAnulty hit his first career homer, a two-run shot with one out in the 11th inning, and host San Diego beat Colorado to stay within one game of the NL West lead.

Derrek Lee hit a grand slam, and Rich Hill struck out 11 in a 7-innings to set a team record for strikeouts by a left-hander, as host Chicago beat Pittsburgh.

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