MILWAUKEE -- Marlins right-hander Pablo López waited four years for a moment like the one Sunday afternoon at American Family Field, when he walked back to the dugout and received congratulations from his teammates and coaches to cap his season.

López, who has dealt with shoulder trouble, entered 2022 hoping to get through a full season for the first time since reaching the big leagues. He accomplished that in Miami’s 4-3 victory over Milwaukee in 12 innings.

“It was emotional, because I knew it was my 32nd and last start of the season, especially like the way it was,” said López, who threw seven scoreless frames. “It was a lot of emotions. Everyone was really happy, which made me very happy, and it was definitely a good intimate moment with everyone.”

A couple days prior, López told catcher Jacob Stallings how important it was for him to go seven innings and reach 180 innings. Knowing that, Stallings told pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. to let López get through the seventh -- even if they had someone warming just in case.

There was no need to worry. López, whose finale didn’t get off to an auspicious start with a leadoff four-pitch walk, wound up taking a no-no to the top of the fifth, when Kolten Wong got a leadoff infield hit. López retired the side in order in the seventh on 12 pitches.

It marked the third start of at least seven scoreless frames for López this season, and his seventh start with no runs given up. López reached 97.2 mph in the first inning -- his second-fastest pitch of the season, and his average fastball velocity was up 1.6 mph.

“In terms of from the first time, I was watching film of him facing these guys [in May] and he was throwing like 91-92 [mph]," said reigning Gold Glove winner Stallings, who caught all but one of López’s starts. "And to see where he is, I know it's well documented that this is his first time really getting through a whole season healthy. For him to be as good as he was, fastballs 96-97 [mph] his last however many starts? Just really happy for him. And he's just a great guy, so we all want him to do well.”

Here’s a look at all López experienced this season:

• Won National League Pitcher of the Month for April after posting a 0.39 ERA in four starts.

• Was named the Marlins’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award.

• Set career highs for starts (32) and innings (180), easily surpassing his previous marks of 21 starts and 111 1/3 innings in 2019.

• Shook up his look by forgoing his trademark stirrup socks over his final four starts. With the pantlegs down, he compiled a 2.05 ERA and recorded a quality start in each.

• Caught the first popout of his career and picked off a runner in the series finale.

• Dealt with being the center of Trade Deadline rumors. Miami held on to López, who will enter his second year of arbitration eligibility this winter. He and ace Sandy Alcantara are one of two pairs of teammates to start at least 32 times for the same club this season. It marked the first time in franchise history since 2014.

“You're happy for Pablo,” manager Don Mattingly said. “Pablo is a guy -- we talk so much about Sandy that we leave Pablo out a lot, partially because of probably the injuries over the past couple years. But he's a guy that's transformed his body. He's in great shape. He's a guy that worked really hard to be able to stay on the field.”

“I accomplished a lot of things I wanted to accomplish,” López said. “I made every single start, reached 180 innings on the dot -- which is a good number. Obviously, when you look at the workload in a season, you have the guys like Sandy that are not from this planet going to 225-plus, [and] then you have the 200 mark. But I feel like 180's a good tier to get to, 180 is a good number. Being able to accomplish that number after not being able to push myself through a whole season, I think that was the biggest takeaway from me.

“I proved myself that I can manage that workload while also trying to be effective. The season had my ups and downs, but I think going into next year, I proved myself that I can handle this workload. So now for next year, I can ask myself not only the workload but then more consistent results on a five-day basis. I think it gives me a great foundation for next year to know that I can handle the workload, but I also have to be on my best game every fifth day. So I think looking forward to next year, it's going to be good. It gives me a lot of confidence, a lot of foundation. It's going to be a movie.”