June 20, 2015, 10 years ago today: Washington’s Max Scherzer has a perfect game going with two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning. It was then that he hit Pittsburgh’s Jose Tabata with a pitch. Tabata was roundly roasted for dropping his left elbow a bit to make contact with the ball, but his defenders said he was merely doing what it took to get on base. Nevertheless, Scherzer promptly retired the next batter, former Boise Hawk Josh Harrison, on a soft fly ball to preserve his no-hitter in a 6-0 victory. Moments later, ecstatic teammates had doused him in chocolate syrup.
Scherzer became the first pitcher to let a perfect game get away on a hit-by-pitch with two outs in the ninth since a guy named Hooks Wiltse with the New York Giants in 1908. It was also the 13th time that the 27th and final batter broke up a potential perfect game. But Scherzer also became the first player since Jim Tobin of the Boston Braves in 1944 to allow one hit or fewer in consecutive complete games. Scherzer was on a roll—complete games are rare in today’s MLB, not to mention back-to-back ones. From the end of July through mid-September, though, Scherzer endured a winless streak of seven straight starts that saw him post an ERA of 6.08.
But Scherzer returned to form. On October 4 that year, in the second-to-last game of the season, he turned in a performance that may have been even more impressive. Scherzer no-hit the New York Mets in a 2-0 victory, with the only baserunner reaching on a throwing error in the sixth inning. He struck out 17 batters, tying Nolan Ryan’s 42-year-old record for most ever in a no-hitter. Scherzer also eclipsed the mark for most strikeouts in a no-hitter without a walk, previously set by Clayton Kershaw of the L.A. Dodgers (15 Ks without a walk in a 2014 no-no).
Scherzer became the 30th major league pitcher with multiple no-hitters in his career and only the fifth to throw two in the same regular season. He did not win the National League Cy Young Award that year as he had in 2013 for Detroit, but Scherzer did earn the honor the following two seasons with the Nationals. Scherzer, who began his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008, has since pitched for the L.A. Dodgers, New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays (for whom he currently plays). Now in his 18th season, he has a career record of 216-112.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
