Max Scherzer put the Milwaukee Brewers in his pocket and took ‘em for a walk Sunday, effortlessly pitching a complete game, one-hit shutout while striking out 16. He threw 119 pitches and walked one, with the only hit coming off a bloop single in the seventh. It was, pretty much literally, better than perfect.


Scherzer may be upset he lost his bid for a perfect game in the seventh, but his game score of 100 makes for only the 12th time a pitcher has recorded a score of at least 100 in a nine-inning game. That’s statistically rarer than a perfect game, of which there have been 23 in MLB history, going by the official definition. It makes for the best performance of the year, edging out the 98 game scores dealt by Corey Kluber and Chris Heston.

Scherzer’s endurance against the Brewers was especially remarkable. In the eighth inning, he was still managing to hit 96 miles per hour with his fastball. Scherzer struck out seven of Milwaukee’s eight position players at least once, and he also struck out each pinch hitter.


Just look at all these whiffs!

Photo via Associated Press