Max Scherzer Pitches Nearly Perfect No Hitter

Washington pitcher Max Scherzer came within one out of a perfect game but still ended up with a no hitter as the Nationals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-0 in Washington on June 20th.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, pinch hitter Jose Tabata was hit by a pitch for the Pirates only base runner. Scherzer then retired Josh Harrison to end the game.

And here’s Tabata getting hit by the pitch to end the perfecto.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last– and only other– time a batter was hit by a pitch with two outs in the ninth inning to end a perfect game was in 1908 when the immortal George Wiltse of the New York Giants hit the Philadelphia Phillies George McQuillen . We don’t have video of that.

Scherzer’s no hitter comes just 11 days after the San Francisco Giants’ Chris Heston threw the first one of the season at the New York Mets. The remarkable thing about Scherzer’s performance is that he threw a one hitter in his last start against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 14th. He had 16 strikeouts in that game and 10 in his no hitter. His totals for the two games: 18 innings pitched, one hit, one walk, one hit batter, and no runs. Except for the Cincinnati Reds’ Johnny Vander Mere’s consecutive no hitters in 1938, it really doesn’t get any better than this.

Scherzer’s record improved to 8-5 with a major league best ERA of 1.76. His 123 strikeouts also tops the majors.