New York Mets: Top Pitching Performances in Mets History

The New York Mets have prided them selves on a pitching-rich tradition dating back to their miraculous run to the World Series title in 1969 behind the trio of Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Gary Gentry.

Here we are in the franchise's 50th season, and the first no-hitter was recently thrown by Johan Santana, arguably one of the most dominating pitchers in baseball history.

The Mets have had some terrific pitchers don the blue and orange, but some of the best performances in team history have come from unlikely sources.

Here are the top single-game pitching performances, based upon the "game score" statistic devised by Bill James in order to calculate the quality of a game.

The highest possible game score is a 114, which would take the nearly impossible feat of throwing a perfect game with 27 strikeouts. 

For historical perspective, the highest nine-inning score was 105 by Kerry Wood during his 20-strikeout no-walk one-hitter in 1998.

(Game statistics are provided by Baseballreference.com)

22. John Maine, 89

Date: September 29, 2007

(Sidenote: I was only going to include a top 20 for this list. John Maine, however, was one of my favorite Mets during his tenure and this game will forever live in my memory bank. This had to be included.)

Stat Line: 7.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 14 K, 115 pitches

The Mets were amidst their historical collapse, and this game presented the possibility that the Mets could not only relinquish their once seven-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies, but be eliminated from postseason play before the end of the season.

John Maine, who won 15 games that season, was absolutely brilliant as the Mets had their backs squarely against the wall. He worked efficiently and was striking out batters at a tremendous pace, including seven in a row at one point.

The Marlins appeared over-matched by the high fastball of Maine and he entered the 8th inning with a no-hitter intact. In classic Mets fashion, the no-hitter was erased with two outs on a dribbler down the third base line by backup catcher Paul Hoover.

Maine was taken out, and it ended up being his defining moment in a Mets uniform. A phenomenal effort given the circumstances, despite the fact that the Mets lost the final game of the season while the Phillies won to clinch the NL East.

21. Jon Matlack, 90

Date: July 10, 1973

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K

The '73 Mets were an extremely offensively inept team. Luckily for them, the pitching was phenomenal and carried the team to a postseason berth despite finishing the season barely over .500.

Yogi Berra's Mets got off to a bad start, and entered this game 11 games under .500 and 12 games back in the division.

Matlack pitched a brilliant game, allowing only three baserunners with the lone hit coming on a sixth-inning double by Tommy Helms.

The lefty had a very good career with the Mets and was a stalwart on the World Series staff of '69 and the '73 club which shocked the NL and won the pennant before coming up short to the Oakland Athletics in the Fall Classic. 

20. Jack Hamilton, 90

Date: May 4, 1966

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K

The 1966 Mets were pretty dreadful, finishing in a distance ninth place under the tutelage of manager Wes Westrum.

For one day, however, they had their way with the imposing St. Louis Cardinals who were led by Lou Brock and Curt Flood at the plate.

Hamilton pitched a masterpiece, allowing only two baserunners. It would not be a surprise if Hall of Famer Lou Brock was responsible for the hit, but he went 0-for-3.

The only hit was a bunt with two outs in the fourth inning by Ray Sadecki, who also was the losing pitcher in the game.

When games like this contributed to the Mets' failure to throw a no-hitter, it is no wonder people doubted their ability to get one.

19. Pedro Martinez, 90

Date: June 7, 2005

Stat Line: 9 IP, 2 H,1 R, 1 BB, 12 K

Pedro Martinez helped turn around the culture of the 2005 Mets upon his arrival. Each start was an event at Shea Stadium, and Pedro did his part by putting up terrific numbers in his first season.

This game, Pedro had his entire arsenal of pitches working. Pedro was notorious for pitching his best during the warm months, and his fastball began to creep up into the mid-90s for the first time that season.

Pedro was matched up against Roy Oswalt, another great pitcher with a career winning percentage near .700. 

The Astros actually won the pennant in 2005, led by their pitching staff of Oswalt, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.

Pedro held a no-hitter into the seventh inning before allowing a solo home run to Chris Burke and a single to Lance Berkman.

Martinez was so dominant in this game he struck out the side in the ninth inning all on called third strikes.

Just another terrific performance by one of the greatest pitchers of all time.

18. Rick Reed, 90

Date: October 2, 1999

Stat Line: 9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 12 K

When thinking about the 1999 Mets, most people immediately think of the "Grand Slam Single" by Robin Ventura in Game 5 of the NLCS or Todd Pratt's walk-off home run against Matt Mantei. Those were both great moments.

But the Mets would not have gotten there without great pitching and a very dramatic three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the last series to force a one game play-in game at Cincinnati. Al Leiter threw a terrific game to beat the Reds, but his four walks forced his game score down to 86.

Rick Reed's game was nearly flawless and it set the tone for the weekend, as the Mets ultimately won the third game on a wild pitch which scored the immortal Melvin Mora from third.

Reed was a very solid pitcher during his Mets tenure and people tend to forget he was the starting pitcher in the Game 3 victory in the World Series against the New York Yankees.

17. Johan Santana, 90

Date: June 1, 2012

Stat Line: 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 8 K, 134 pitches

Description: Hard to believe this game is not ranked higher, but the high walk total is the reason for that. Johan obviously had incredible movement on his pitches, but his command was actually a bit off. His competitiveness and intensity came to the forefront and he was not going to allow an elevated pitch count remove him from the game.

What makes this game so impressive is not only the fact that it was the first no-hitter in franchise history, but the St. Louis Cardinals were the reigning World Series Champions and they entered the day as the league's most formidable offense.

Clearly, Johan Santana is a fantastic pitcher and he was the ideal pitcher to accomplish the franchise's historic achievement.

16. David Cone, 91

Date: August 29, 1988

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K

David Cone's 1988 season was one of the most dominating in recent history, as he compiled a 20-3 record with a 2.22 ERA in 231 innings which earned him a third-place finish in the Cy Young race.

This masterpiece was against the San Diego Padres who featured a formidable lineup with Tony Gwynn, Roberto Alomar, Jon Kruk and Benito Santiago.

The lone hit was a double by Gwynn in the fourth inning. 

Cone was spotless from there on, and the first-place Mets won this easily.

15. Jon Niese, 91

Date: June 10, 2010

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K

Jon Niese had a solid season in 2010, and this was his defining moment.

Chris Denorfia, a light-hitting outfielder, led off the third inning with a double in the right-field corner. After that, Niese retired the final 21 batters of the game.

It was an exceptional performance from the young Niese, who made light work of the abysmal Padres lineup.

The Mets won the game 3-0 with Jeff Francoeur's RBI single being the difference.

14. Gary Gentry, 91

Date: May 13, 1970

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K

Gary Gentry had an immediate impact on the Mets as he arrived in 1969 during their championship season. The young left-handed pitcher threw 233 innings and won 13 games.

In 1970, he got off to another quick start and he dominated the powerful Chicago Cubs lineup led by Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Ernie Banks.

Gentry allowed only two base-runners, with the lone hit coming by Hall of Famer Ernie Banks in the eighth inning with two outs.

Banks was obviously an incredible player, but at this point in his career, he was a 39-year-old first basemen who was limited to 72 games.

Then again, should that come as any surprise considering the luck of the Mets franchise?

The blue and orange won this game 4-0 with Art Shamsky's home run representing the difference.

13. RA Dickey, 91

Date: August 13, 2010

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K

The RA Dickey knuckleball experiment has been a resounding success. He has been the Mets' most consistent pitcher over the past three seasons.

On this day in Citi Field, he was nearly perfect.

Dickey stymied the Phillies potent lineup, although they were without All-Stars Ryan Howard and Chase Utley who are notorious Met-killers. 

The lone blemish on Dickey's final line was a sixth inning single to, of course, starting pitcher Cole Hamels.

Mets' fans could live with a regular hitter slapping a clean single, but a starting pitcher that has made some controversial comments about the Mets? 

We could do without that.

Nevertheless, Dickey was untouchable on this day, and it was the 35th and most recent one-hitter in franchise history.

12. Dwight Gooden, 92

Date: September 7, 1984

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 11 K

The man known as "Doctor K" was an absolute phenom upon his arrival to the big leagues at the age of 19.

This game took place during the final month of his historically great Rookie of the Year season in 1984, in which he compiled a league-leading 276 strikeouts, 6.6 H/9, and a 1.07 WHIP.

Gooden tossed a complete game shutout with the lone hit coming on a fifth-inning single by Keith Moreland.

During the final month of 1984, Gooden put up mind-boggling numbers, which actually garnered him MVP and Cy Young consideration.

The Mets won this game 10-0 with big performances by Mookie Wilson and George Foster.

11. Shawn Estes, 92

Date: April 26, 2002

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K

2002 was a forgettable year for Mets' fans as they finished in the cellar of the NL East despite a lineup that included Mike Piazza, Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar, Edgardo Alfonzo and Jeromy Burnitz.

Shawn Estes will go down in Mets' lore for throwing behind Roger Clemens at Shea Stadium, and following that up with a home run off Clemens.

For the season, Estes finished with only four victories, but in this late April matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers he was nearly perfect.

He carried a perfect game into the seventh inning before Eric Young singled to break it up. The only other baserunner was a walk in the eighth inning.

Estes was completely dominant in this game, which was the 23rd one-hitter in franchise history.

The game ended in a score of 1-0 with the lone run coming on a second-inning home run by Jay Payton.

10. Tom Glavine, 92

Date: May 23, 2004 

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K

The Mets fans' perception of Tom Glavine's career was permanently stained with his 0.1 inning outing on the final day of the season in 2007.

People fail to remember, however, that Glavine's Mets tenure was not a calamity—he won 61 games with a 3.97 ERA over a five-year span.

His defining moment was on this day in May when Glavine was one Kit Pellow double away from a no-hitter. That's right, Kit Pellow, a man with 19 career RBI and possibly the least intimidating name in sports, was able to accomplish what Vinny Castilla, Jeromy Burnitz and Matt Holliday were unable to on that afternoon.

Tom threw a terrific game regardless of who got the single, and it was his best start of 2004, which was very mediocre by his standards. 

9. Tom Glavine, 92

Date: September 29, 2005

Stat Line: 9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K

The 2005 Mets were a team of peaks and valleys, to say the least. In the first two weeks alone they featured a five-game losing streak and six-game winning streak.

Entering August 31st, they were 68-60 and within 0.5 games of the wild-card lead. After a September swoon, they fell to four games under .500.

They got on another hot streak to end the season, but at that point they had already been eliminated.

On September 29, Tom Glavine had one of the best performances of his career. He threw a complete-game shutout allowing only two singles to the Colorado Rockies while he struck out 11.

The Mets won the game easily by a score of 11-0, but their playoff chances were already for naught.

8. Al Jackson, 92

Date: June 22, 1962

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K

The 1962 Mets were one of the worst professional sports teams in history. They finished 40-120, a mere 60 games out of first place, Marv Throneberry missed first and second base on his way to third and Al Jackson went 8-20 as the supposed ace.

For one day, however, Al Jackon pitched like the ace he was meant to be.

The 5'10" left-handed pitcher out of Waco, Texas allowed only a first-inning single and no other hits the rest of the game.

The lone single was recorded by Joey Amalfitano of the Houston Colts, who entered the game with a .607 OPS.

It was the first one-hitter in franchise history and far from the last, although it was very nearly the first no-hitter.

7. Rick Reed, 93

Date: June 8th, 1998

Stat Line: 9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K

The first year of existence for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays was not pretty, in that sense they are similar to the Mets.

Rick Reed took advantage of an aging lineup which featured Wade Boggs and Fred McGriff in the third and fourth spots. They were both at the point in their careers that a .750 OPS was not easily attainable.

And they were the big threats.

Reed diced through the lineup, as he threw over 70 percent strikes on the afternoon.

The offense came from Mike Piazza, Carlos Baerga and Reed himself.

It was a dominating performance for Reed who won his seventh game of the season.

6. Bret Saberhagen, 93

Date: July 15, 1994

Stat Line: 10 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 K

This is the only game on the list that was a loss by the Mets, as they were defeated 2-1 in 14 innings to the San Diego Padres.

That does not take away, however, from the incredible performance of Bret Saberhagen, who threw 131 pitches over his 10 dominating innings.

He threw an incredible 98 strikes in the game, which shows how locked in he was.

Two of the five hits he yielded were to Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.

The losing pitcher in the game was Mike Maddux, the brother of 300-game winner Greg Maddux.

1994 was not a great year for the Mets, and for Saberhagan to pitch the way he did and still not receive a victory speaks volumes about the offense of the Mets that year.

5. Nolan Ryan, 94

Date: April 18, 1970

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 6 BB, 15 K

Does it get anymore vintage Nolan Ryan than this? The man who owns the record for career strikeouts and walks managed to pack a whole bunch of each into this start, which calculated to a game score of 94.

Ironically, the losing pitcher in this game was Jim Bunning, who threw a perfect game against the Mets on Father's Day 1964, which broke a 58-year no-hitter drought for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ryan began the game allowing a single to leadoff hitter Denny Doyle and walked the second batter before settling in and allowing zero hits and five baserunners while recording the next 27 outs.

Clearly, the Mets made a huge mistake by dealing Nolan, who ended up becoming one of the greatest pitchers of all-time, but at least the Mets were able to get a near no-hitter from the "Ryan Express". 

4. Tom Seaver, 96

Date: July 4, 1972

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 11 K

Tom Seaver threw an incredible five one-hitters with the Mets, and it is truly astonishing that he was never able to accomplish a no-hitter in New York, despite being less than three outs away on three different occasions.

On this particular Fourth of July in 1972, Seaver had his A-game against the San Diego Padres, as he took his no-hitter into the 9th inning. He retired the first batter on a ground out to second, before the next batter, LeRon Lee lined a clean single to center field. The next batter grounded into a game-ending double play to complete Seaver's near miss.

The Mets won the game 2-0, a typical score for that year's team. 

The offense of the 1972 Mets was absolutely deplorable. They scored a total of 528 runs on the season, about half of the 1998 Texas Rangers.

Tom Seaver had a 2.92 ERA yet still lost 12 games. He finished 5th in the Cy Young race, which speaks to his dominance.

3. R.A. Dickey, 95

Date: June 13th, 2012

Stat Line:9 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K's

Description:Dickey has been the perfect example of lightning in a bottle for the Mets. He won his 10th game in 11 decisions by his masterpiece against the Tampa Bay Rays.

He allowed a single on a chopper to David Wright in the first inning, which seemed like a meaningless play at the time.

Then, as Dickey began setting down the side in order each inning, it appeared Wright's decision to barehand the chopper rather than use his glove could potentially loom large.

The Mets broke the game open with three runs in the fifth and four runs in the sixth.

Dickey also broke the franchise record of consecutive scoreless innings which was previously held by Jerry Koosman.

The streak officially ended in the ninth inning when Wright began the inning with an error, followed by two passed balls and an RBI groundout.

Dickey did not give up an earned run, struck out a career-high of 12 batters and faced two over the minimum.

Truly an exceptional performance. 

2. Chris Capuano, 96

Date: August 26, 2011

Stat Line: 9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 13 K

Potentially the most surprising name on the list, Capuano actually recorded the highest game score by any pitcher in 2011, even with the plethora of no-hitters that were thrown.

This game occurred long after the Mets began to slide out of contention, as they were playing out the string against a team that looked headed to the playoffs with their ace on the hill.

Rather than Tim Hudson dominating the Mets, it was Capuano who was in total control. 

Despite his low strikeout totals on the year, he compiled 13 on the day, including the final two.

The lone hits Capuano yielded on the day were to Dan Uggla in the fifth inning and David Ross in the eighth, but was spotless otherwise.

The Mets won by a score of 6-0, thanks to timely production through out the lineup.

In what turned out to be his only season in blue and orange, Capuano turned in one of the greatest single-game performances in team history against an NL East rival.

1C. R.A. Dickey, 96

Date: June 18th, 2012

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 13 K

The first-half of Dickey's 2012 season is nothing short of astonishing. He threw back-to-back one-hitters, a feat that had not been accomplished in the National Leagues since 1944.

Dickey allowed only a Wilson Betemit single in the 5th inning which was a sharp grounder up the middle, as opposed to the chopper he allowed as the only hit in his previous start.

He also collected a career-high of 13 strikeouts, breaking his previous record of 12 (set the week prior).

The Orioles entered the game with one of the highest-scoring offenses in the MLB, but Dickey proved to be too difficult of a task for them.

Just another dominating start by the 37-year-old knuckleballer. 

1B. Tom Seaver, 96

Date: July 9, 1969

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 K

This is the game that gets the most publicity of all the Seaver masterpieces. 

That is because of the scenario surrounding it.

The Chicago Cubs were in town and the Mets were involved in a pennant race for the first time in their history. Clearly, Tom Seaver was their ace and he had his best stuff that day. 

He shut down the Cubs lineup, which featured three Hall of Fame caliber players, without allowing a baserunner for 8.1 innings.

With one out, Jimmy Qualls, who had 144 career at bats, lined a single to center field to break up the perfect game.

Seaver promptly retired the next two batters in order to preserve the shutout victory, which was thanks to Cleon Jones seventh-inning home run.

"Tom Terrific" in his prime allows a hit not to one of the Cubs' three superstars, but to a mere .250 hitter. 

No explanation.

1A. Tom Seaver, 96

Date: April 22nd, 1970

Stat Line: 9 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 19 K

Of Seaver's many accomplishments, some find this one to be the most impressive. Obviously, what stands out about this line score was his 19 strikeouts, which has since been eclipsed by Roger Clemens (twice) and Kerry Wood with 20.

Seaver struck out the final 10 San Diego Padres of the game to win the ball game 2-1 despite the Mets only compiling four hits.

The lone run that Seaver allowed was on a home run to Al Ferrera. For historical perspective, Ferrera was a Brooklyn native who managed to hit 51 career home runs. He was no Hall of Famer, but was able to get the best of Seaver while he had his A-game.

1. Tom Seaver, 97

Date: May 15, 1970

Stat Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 15 K

Of all the magnificent games Seaver threw in a Mets uniform, this one stands above the rest.

Seaver struck out at least one man in every inning, including four against first baseman Deron Johnson.

The Phillies were not a powerful lineup. In fact, they were in the midst of an eight-game losing streak, but that does not mitigate the utterly dominant performance of Tom Seaver. 

A one-hitter with 15 strikeouts is as baffling as it gets. The lone hit went to Mike Compton in the third inning. He was quickly erased.

Tom Seaver is the greatest pitcher in Mets history and frankly, it is not very close.

Five one-hitters, three Cy Youngs, five other top-10 finishes, nearly 200 victories and a World Series title is a pretty impressive list of credentials.

Johan Santana is an extremely talented and gifted competitor, but there will only be one Tom Seaver.