What comes to mind when thinking about the best-ever pitching performances in Boston Red Sox history?
ESPN’s David Schoenfield provided what he felt was each organization’s best mound performance Saturday. There were certainly a few no-brainers, but there were also a few surprises.
His selection for the best-ever Red Sox performance may come among the latter.
Schoenfield credited Hideo Nomo’s nine-inning gem against the Toronto Blue Jays in May 2001 as the organization’s best performance.
Nomo, who spent one season in Boston, tallied 14 strikeouts and allowed just one hit. He did not allow one walk in the nine-inning performance, as he helped the Red Sox to a 4-0 win on May 25, 2001.
Schoenfield added Nomo earned a Game Score of 99. (Of note, with the way Game Score is calculated, the more innings you pitch, the higher your Game Score can go.)
Here’s what Schoenfield wrote:
This is one of the biggest surprises on the list, in part because it’s not even Nomo’s no-hitter from 2001 (which scored a 95). This game came at Fenway in the heart of the steroids era and Nomo induced 26 swing-and-misses while allowing only a leadoff double in the fourth inning.
Schoenfield added a possible argument for his selection (as he did with each).
There are some who say that Pedro Martinez’s one-hitter with 17 strikeouts against the Yankees in September 1999 was one of the greatest games ever pitched. Indeed, it was 120 pitches of Pedro genius against the hated Yankees, during one of the best seasons a pitcher ever had — 23-4, 2.07 ERA, 313 strikeouts in 213 1/3 innings. Alas, the one hit he allowed was a home run to Chili Davis. As unhittable as Martinez was that night, he did give up a home run.
All selections were limited to regular-season starts while the list, due to Baseball Reference’s Index, included games from 1908 and beyond.
Still impressive, nonetheless.
