When Yovani Gallardo and Chris Carpenter squared off for a Memorial Day showdown, I don't think anyone expected the pitching duel that resulted. Sure, two ace pitchers were facing each other, but sixteen combined innings of shutout ball with each pitcher allowing only two hits? That's above and beyond even those lofty expectations. You have to go back a couple years to find another Brewers game like that, though Dave Bush and Paul Maholm had a good battle last year.
It turns out Yovani's Memorial Day game score was 80. Carpenter rode his 10 strikeouts to a game score of 88, giving the two pitchers a combined score of 168. In Monday's game thread, KLSnow asked about the record for combined game score between two pitchers who received no-decisions. If you follow the link, you'll see the record since 1954 is either 226 or 207, depending on whether you want to include games ending in a tie. So last Monday's no-decision thriller doesn't quite measure up, but it was still great theater.
It took until last night, but KLSnow's question got me thinking about the best Brewers game scores by pitchers who wound up with no-decisions. Yovani is one of only fifteen Brewers pitchers to put up a score of 80 or more and not get a win or loss. He is the first since 2004 and only the fourth since the Brewers joined the National League. I'm sure we can all guess who one of the other three was, another might be somewhat surprising, and the final one should be a shocker. Here is the whole list of what you might call the best unrewarded starts in team history, for nostalgia's sake:
| Pitcher | Opponent | Date | Score | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | Game Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Colborn | BAL | 09/27/1974 | 0-1 | 13.0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 94 |
| Bill Wegman | CAL | 07/07/1986 | 1-3 | 11.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 91 |
| Ben Sheets | ANA | 06/08/2004 | 1-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 90 |
| Teddy Higuera | KCR | 07/20/1988 | 0-4 | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 90 |
| Jim Slaton | KCR | 08/23/1974 | 1-0 | 10.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 89 |
| Ruben Quevedo | CHC | 06/05/2002 | 1-5 | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 87 |
| Skip Lockwood | CHW | 08/26/1972 | 1-3 | 12.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 86 |
| Ben McDonald | STL | 06/16/1997 | 1-0 | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 85 |
| Jerry Bell | CLE | 05/15/1973 | 2-1 | 11.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 85 |
| Skip Lockwood | OAK | 06/26/1970 | 3-2 | 12.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 85 |
| Jeff D'Amico | NYM | 09/13/2000 | 1-4 | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 83 |
| Danny Darwin | TOR | 06/17/1986 | 1-2 | 10.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 83 |
| Bill Wegman | BOS | 09/16/1992 | 1-2 | 10.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 81 |
| Yovani Gallardo | STL | 05/25/2009 | 1-0 | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 80 |
| Teddy Higuera | KCR | 08/24/1986 | 3-2 | 10.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 80 |
The scores are from the Brewers perspective, so you can see they went 7-8 in those fifteen games. It's worth noting that Bob Meyer achieved a game score of 80 and a no-decision in a 5-1 Pilots win on September 1, 1969, so you can make the franchise 8-8 if you wish. How about Ruben Quevedo pitching the game of his life and not picking up a win for his trouble?
If you're curious, the highest game score in a no-decision since 1954 was 118, put up by Pittsburgh's Vern Law on July 19, 1955 against the Milwaukee Braves. Law went a mere 18 innings, giving up one run and striking out twelve before giving way to Bob Friend in the 19th. There were undoubtedly higher scores in the decades prior to 1954.