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Mattingly: Gordon 'probably' would've kept no-hitter alive

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

As he watched that blooper off the bat of Jonathan Lucroy fall just beyond the outstretched glove of Derek Dietrich on Friday night, spoiling the combined no-hit efforts from Adam Conley and Jose Urena with one out in the ninth inning, Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly couldn't help but wonder what would've happened were his regular second baseman out there.

In all likelihood, Mattingly admitted, Dee Gordon catches that ball.

"Probably," Mattingly told reporters after his club escaped a wild series opener with a 6-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

Gordon wasn't available, though, nor will he be for the next three months or so, having received an 80-game suspension earlier in the day after testing positive for exogenous testosterone and clostebol, two performance-enhancing substances.

So, as Conley and Urena tried to make history at Miller Park, Gordon was nowhere to be found, forcing Mattingly to use a wildly inferior defender at second base. Gordon is a former shortstop, after all, who earned his first career Gold Glove award last season after leading all National League second baseman in both defensive runs saved (13) and ultimate zone rating (6.4).

Dietrich, meanwhile, had logged all of 17 innings at second base over the last two seasons heading into Friday's contest, having essentially moved off the position after posting -14 defensive runs saved at second from 2013-14.

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