Game score

Game Score is a metric devised by Bill James to determine the strength of a pitcher in any particular baseball game. To determine a starting pitcher's game score:

The maximum possible game score in a nine-inning game while allowing no baserunners is 114, possible only if a pitcher goes nine innings while striking out every batter he faces and facing three batters per inning. The pitcher receives 50 to begin with, and loses no points because there are no hits, walks, or runs of any kind. He receives 27 points for the 27 outs, and 10 points for five innings completed after the fourth inning, for a total of 87. In this "perfect score" scenario, the pitcher would have to strike out every hitter he faced, netting him an additional 27 points, for a grand total of 114.

The maximum possible score actually involves an extremely unlikely scenario in which three base runners reach base each inning on wild pitches or passed balls on third strikes. If this were to happen such that no one scored, and the pitcher recorded all outs by strikeout, a pitcher could theoretically record six strikeouts per inning, and thus 54 for the game, netting him 54 points in addition to the 87 he would have received as described above, for a total of 141.

The highest game score for a nine-inning game in the history of baseball is Kerry Wood's one-hit, no walk, 20-strikeout shutout performance for the Chicago Cubs against the Houston Astros on May 6, 1998. His game score was 105 (50 + 27 + 10 + 20 – 2).

The highest game score for a no-hitter occurred on October 3, 2015, when Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals allowed no hits and no walks, striking out 17, against the New York Mets. This is also the second-highest nine-inning game score in Major League Baseball history at 104 (50 + 27 + 10 + 17).

The 100th game score of 100 points or higher was pitched by Matt Cain in June 2012. Of the 100 such games, only ten of them were a regulation nine innings. Higher scores have been accomplished in extra-inning games. The two highest game scores ever recorded both occurred in the same game: the famous 26-inning duel from 1920, Joe Oeschger scored 153 and Leon Cadore scored 140. Oeschger had earlier scored a 102 in a 14-inning game in 1917 against Jeff Pfeffer, who scored 114. Oeschger's record in these games was 0-0, because both ended in ties and were called by darkness. In all, there have been nine games in which both starting pitchers scored 100 points; all required extra innings and none has occurred since 1971. Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn scored 112 and 97, respectively, during a complete game 16-inning match up; Spahn's score fell below 100 because of Willie Mays' game-winning home run in the bottom of the 16th.

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