No no-no, but Morrow hurls majors’ best of 2010
Sunday afternoon Brandon Morrow nearly missed a no-hitter, but struck out the most batters in a single baseball game since 2007, when Johan Santana also fanned 17. Although Major League Baseball has has had five no-hitters so far in 2010, including two perfect games, Morrow’s was the best fielding-independently-pitched game of the year:
| Rk | Pitcher | Date | Team | Opp | IP | BB | SO | HR | BF | FIGS |
| 1 | Brandon Morrow | 8/8 | TOR | TBR | 9 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 31 | 84 |
| 2 | Roy Halladay* | 5/29 | PHI | FLA | 9 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 27 | 82 |
| 3 | Cliff Lee | 7/27 | TEX | OAK | 9 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 32 | 81 |
| 4 | Carlos Silva | 5/29 | CHC | STL | 7 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 23 | 80 |
| 5 | Yovani Gallardo | 6/24 | MIL | MIN | 9 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 32 | 79 |
| 5 | Jered Weaver | 6/19 | LAA | CHC | 7 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 24 | 79 |
| 7 | Yovani Gallardo | 8/2 | MIL | CHC | 6 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 21 | 78 |
| 7 | Scott Baker | 6/16 | MIN | COL | 7 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 24 | 78 |
| 7 | Francisco Liriano | 6/11 | MIN | ATL | 8 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 28 | 78 |
| 10 | Josh Johnson | 4/26 | FLA | SDP | 9 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 31 | 77 |
| 10 | Colby Lewis | 6/19 | TEX | HOU | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 28 | 77 |
| 12 | Ricky Romero | 5/15 | TOR | TEX | 9 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 32 | 76 |
| 12 | Felipe Paulino | 5/8 | HOU | SDP | 7 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 27 | 76 |
| 12 | Shaun Marcum | 7/30 | TOR | CLE | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 25 | 76 |
| 12 | Stephen Strasburg | 6/18 | WSN | CHW | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 25 | 76 |
| 12 | Matt Cain | 5/28 | SFG | ARI | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 29 | 76 |
| 12 | Mat Latos | 5/7 | SDP | HOU | 8 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 26 | 76 |
| 18 | Gio Gonzalez | 8/1 | OAK | CHW | 8 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 31 | 75 |
| 18 | Daisuke Matsuzaka | 5/11 | BOS | TOR | 7 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 24 | 75 |
| 18 | Rich Harden | 5/3 | TEX | OAK | 7 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 24 | 75 |
| 18 | Travis Wood | 7/10 | CIN | PHI | 9 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 28 | 75 |
| 18 | Johnny Cueto | 5/11 | CIN | PIT | 9 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 28 | 75 |
| 23 | Jon Lester | 4/28 | BOS | TOR | 7 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 23 | 74 |
| 23 | CC Sabathia | 4/16 | NYY | TEX | 6 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 74 |
| 23 | Felix Hernandez | 7/21 | SEA | CHW | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 26 | 74 |
| 23 | Cliff Lee | 4/30 | SEA | TEX | 7 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 23 | 74 |
* perfect game
August 9th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
So, is 2010 shaping up to be the year of the pitcher? I was trying to think how you’d check this, using FIGS. Top score overall seems too narrow. Perhaps what the 25th best score at this date in the season is? Average of the top 10 or top 25?
It’s interesting to see what it takes to break the top 25 to this point. Give up a homer and you’re out. Walk more than 2 and you’re not making the list. And it’s almost, but not quite, a rule that you have to pitch at least 7.
Did the other perfect game not make the list? I see the imperfect perfect one up there at #5. (Along those lines, is he the only one on the list no longer playing in the majors? That’s got to be a rarity, to pitch one of the 25 best games of the season and get sent back down.)
August 9th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
I like your idea of the top 10 or 25 average. It might be higher than last year’s total at this point. As for the no-hit games (* perfecto), here’s their FIGS:
Halladay* 82
Braden* 72
Garza 69
Jimenez 52
Jackson 39
Even Galarraga’s near-miss wouldn’t have been outstanding if he had made it: He scored a 65, and would’ve gotten “just” a 66 had the play at first been called differently.
Which imperfect one at #5 are you referring to?