[flamesbball84]

SAN FRANCISCO -- On a night when Jonathan Sanchez was nearly perfect, his father chose the perfect time to show up in San Francisco and cheer him.

The Giants left-hander threw the majors' first no-hitter of the season Friday night and came within a whisper of a perfect game. The only runner to reach against him in an 8-0 victory over the San Diego Padres came on an error by third baseman Juan Uribe with one out in the eighth.

Nearly Perfect

An error in the eighth inning cost Jonathan Sanchez something five other pitchers who had at least 11 K's and no walks in a game have -- a perfect game.
11+ K And 0 Walks
In No-Hitter, Since 1900 Season Pitcher K-BB
'09 Jonathan Sanchez, SF* 11-0
'04 Randy Johnson, ARI 13-0
'98 David Wells, NYY 11-0
'81 Len Barker, CLE 11-0
'68 Catfish Hunter, OAK 11-0
'65 Sandy Koufax, LAD 14-0
*Only non-perfect game

The 26-year-old Sanchez (3-8) returned to the rotation after a nearly three-week demotion to the bullpen -- and only got the call because 303-game winner Randy Johnson went on the disabled list this week with a shoulder injury.

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=290710126

[Hold My Own]

Ever? Is this serious? I feel like I'm listening to ESPN radio where they say things on purpose that they know are wrong but they just want the discussion

[Liberty4Life]

I would argue that the greatest regular season performance in a nine-inning game in history came from Kerry Wood's 5th game in his career, when he pitched a complete game 1 hitter, with no walks... and struck out 20 batters.

19 strikeouts in a 9-inning game alone is as rare as a perfect game (and I would argue, more dominating). And for that to come from a guy barely a month into the big leagues... Wow!

As for best regular season performance, that honor goes to a guy named Harvey Haddix... who pitched a perfect game for 12 innings (!) and lost (!!!)