Shutouts in baseball

In Major League Baseball, a shutout (denoted statistically as ShO or SHO), also known as a complete-game shutout, refers to the act by which a single pitcher pitches a complete game and does not allow the opposing team to score a run. If two or more pitchers combine to complete this act, no pitcher is awarded a shutout, although the team itself can be said to have "shutout" the opposing team.

The ultimate single achievement among pitchers is a perfect game, which has been accomplished 23 times in over 135 years, most recently by Félix Hernández of the Seattle Mariners on August 15, 2012. By definition, a perfect game is counted as a shutout. A no-hitter completed by one pitcher is also a shutout unless the opposing team manages to score through a series of errors, base on balls, catcher's interferences, dropped third strikes, or hit batsmen. The all-time career leader in shutouts is Walter Johnson, who pitched for the Washington Senators from 1907–1927. He accumulated 110 shutouts, which is 20 more than the second place leader, Pete Alexander. The most shutouts recorded in one season was 16, which was a feat accomplished by both Pete Alexander (1916) and George Bradley (1876). These records are considered among the most secure records in baseball, because pitchers today rarely earn more than one or two shutouts per season with a heavy emphasis on pitch count and relief pitching. Complete games themselves have also become rare among starting pitchers.

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