August 30, 1989: José DeLeón’s tremendous effort easted as Reds top Cardinals

The Game Score was introduced by Bill James in his annual Baseball Abstract in 1988.1 It’s a simple stat – a measure of a starting pitcher’s effectiveness by adding and subtracting points from a starting point of 50 based on in-game events. SABR’s Jeff Angus wrote in the Baseball Research Journal that James “humbly called it a ‘garbage stat,’” but Angus went on to say that “it was an astonishingly useful measure that was accessible to casual fans.”2 The gold standard of Game Score achievement is a score of 100 or more. As of 2025, Baseball-Reference.com showed only 148 games of 100 or more in their database.

The 1980s saw many remarkable pitching efforts, including perfect games by Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians in 1981 and Mike Witt of the California Angels in 1984;3 Mike Scott’s division-clinching no-hitter for the Houston Astros in 1986;4 Roger Clemens’ record-setting 20-strikeout night with the ’86 Boston Red Sox;5 14-inning complete games by both Matt Keough and Steve McCatty of the 1980 Oakland A’s;6 and several age-defying outings by fireballer Nolan Ryan of the Astros and Texas Rangers.7

But none of these pitchers had a game score of 100 or more. The only game score over 100 in the 1980s was thrown in St. Louis in 1989, by a pitcher who did not figure in the decision.

Right-hander José DeLeón was born in the Dominican Republic and attended high school in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Called up to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1983, he made an immediate impact, taking no-hitters into the seventh inning or later three times in his first seven major-league starts. DeLeón’s record of 17-38 in Pittsburgh mirrored the Pirates’ decline from National League East Division contenders in ’83 to three straight last-place finishes from 1984 through 1986, but he still demonstrated flashes of brilliance, including six perfect innings against the Cincinnati Reds in August 1984 and 14 strikeouts against the New York Mets in April 1985.

The Pirates traded DeLeón to the Chicago White Sox for Bobby Bonilla in July 1986. In February 1988, the White Sox sent DeLeón to St. Louis for Lance Johnson and Ricky Horton . DeLeón found his stride with the Cardinals in ’88, leading St. Louis with 13 wins and finishing third in the NL with 208 strikeouts.

At age 28, DeLeón was having another strong season in 1989. Coming into his August 30 start against the Reds at Busch Stadium, he had a 14-11 record with a 3.31 ERA, and an NL-best 166 strikeouts. On August 20 in Cincinnati, DeLeón had beaten the Reds with eight innings of one-run, six-hit pitching.

The Cardinals were trailing the Chicago Cubs by 2½ games in the NL East. The Reds were mired in fourth place in the NL West. Just six days earlier, on August 24, Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti had announced a lifetime suspension for Cincinnati manager Pete Rose, based on evidence that Rose had bet on baseball while managing the Reds.

The Reds starter, 36-year-old righty Rick Mahler, entered the game with a 1-5 record in his last 11 starts, with the Reds going 2-9 in those games. With the rosters set to expand in a couple of days, Mahler’s spot in the starting rotation was in doubt. Interim manager Tommy Helms commented, “I hope Mahler has a good game tonight” before the contest.8

DeLeón retired the first nine Reds who came to the plate, striking out All-Star Eric Davis in the first and Todd Benzinger in the second, then zipping through the third on just six pitches.

Mahler gave up first-inning singles to Ozzie Smith and Pedro Guerrero, then one in the second to José Oquendo and another in the third to Willie McGee, along with an intentional walk to Guerrero, but escaped without allowing a run.

Herm Winningham’s popup to begin the fourth made it 10 outs in a row for DeLeón. Luis Quiñones followed with a single to right but was erased when Davis grounded into a double play; DeLeón had faced the minimum through four. Mahler had his first one-two-three inning in the fourth as well, so the contest remained deadlocked.

In the fifth inning, DeLeón got back to the business of retiring every Reds batter he faced, and Mahler returned to wriggling out of jams. DeLeón’s clean fifth included another strikeout of Benzinger. Mahler allowed a two-out single to Smith in the fifth but got the third out by inducing Milt Thompson to ground out.

DeLeón was back in the dugout after three batters and six pitches in the sixth. In the bottom of the inning, a one-out walk to Denny Walling and single by Tom Brunansky gave the Cards another opportunity, but they squandered it when Oquendo flew out to right and 23-year-old catcher Todd Zeile, appearing in his seventh big-league game, grounded out.

The Reds went down in order in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. DeLeón punctuated each frame with strikeouts, fanning Davis swinging to end the seventh, rookie catcher Joe Oliver looking to conclude the eighth, and Ron Oester and Mahler for the final two outs of the ninth.

Mahler pitched around Smith’s two-out single for a scoreless seventh. He put up another zero in the bottom of the eighth, although Guerrero drove a pitch to the deepest part of center field at Busch Stadium that Davis hauled in to keep the game tied. Mahler’s clean ninth – his third one-two-three inning of the game – sent the action to extra innings.

DeLeón made it 19 Reds retired in a row with a 14-pitch 10th. In the bottom of the inning, the Cardinals mounted their strongest challenge of the night against Mahler, who remained on the mound despite having thrown more than 130 pitches through nine innings.

With one out, Smith recorded his fourth single of the game, but Oliver gunned him down attempting to steal second. Thompson then tripled to right to put the first runner of the game for either team at third. The Reds intentionally walked Guerrero and Walling, loading the bases. Brunansky lined the first pitch – Mahler’s 156th of the game – straight at first baseman Benzinger and the potential winning run stayed at third.

DeLeón was perfect one more time in the 11th, and the Reds brought in hard-throwing Rob Dibble, who struck out the side. When Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog pinch-hit John Morris for DeLeón as the last hitter of the 11th, DeLeón’s night was over after 109 pitches. He had allowed one hit and no walks over 11 innings, struck out eight, and faced the minimum of 33 hitters over that span.

Todd Worrell continued the mastery of the Cardinals’ pitching with a one-two-three 12th. The Cards threatened again in the bottom of the inning. McGee led off with a single and reached second when Dibble muffed Smith’s sacrifice. Oliver tried to pick McGee off at second, but his throw was wild for another error, and the runners advanced to second and third.

Thompson had an opportunity to win the game for the Cards but struck out swinging. Guerrero’s intentional walk loaded the bases, but Dibble struck out Terry Pendleton, batting for Walling, and Brunansky’s soft fly to right ended the inning.

“I was in a situation where I had to put the ball in play,” a dejected Thompson said post-game. “I didn’t and they walked Pedro. That’s baseball. I didn’t execute.”9

The Reds, having survived multiple chances to lose the game, won it in the 13th. Quińones drove a one-out double to deep right, giving Cincinnati its first baserunner since his own single – nine innings earlier.

Davis was intentionally walked, and veteran Dave Collins pinch-hit for Dibble. Collins’s single scored Quiñones with the game’s first run. One out later, Davis and Collins took off on a double steal, and Zeile’s throwing error allowed Davis to score.

Helms sent in John Franco to close out the game. Singles by Oquendo and Zeile to start the inning gave the Cardinals yet another scoring chance. The speedy Vince Coleman pinch-hit for Worrell but hit into a double play, and Franco struck out McGee to give the Reds a 12-hit shutout and an unlikely victory.

“It’s discouraging to lose, especially after the amount of chances we had,” said Zeile after the game. “We didn’t lose in the 13th or even the 12th. We had opportunities early and didn’t capitalize. It cost us.”10

About the only thing the Cardinals were more upset about than losing a game they should have won was not getting DeLeón the win. As Brunansky said after the game, “He was outstanding; he deserved to win. Unfortunately, we didn’t get him any runs.”11 Zeile added, “It’s really sad that we didn’t win that one for him. He put the ball into my glove all night. He was never in trouble.”12

Praise for DeLeón’s effort came from the other clubhouse as well. “That’s as good as you can pitch, right there,” said Mahler after the game, shaking his head. “You just can’t say enough about how he pitched. It was definitely his night.”13

DeLeón recorded a Game Score of 103.14 He finished 1989 with 16 wins, which turned out to be the most of his 13-season big-league career, and his 201 strikeouts led the NL.

Author’s Note

I was relocated to Columbus, Ohio from my native Chicago in 1989, and was participating in a NL-only fantasy baseball league that year. I would probably have watched the game anyway, but I had a vested interest as well; I had DeLeón, Brunansky, Dibble, Quiñones, and Oquendo on my team that year. After DeLeón’s effort, plus the win from Dibble, I moved into first place in my league for that year. That didn’t last, but my memory of that game has. I cut out the box score from USA Today, and I still have it in my wallet. It remains the best game I have ever seen pitched live (in person or on TV).

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Gary Belleville and copy-edited by John Fredland.

Photo credit: Jose DeLeón, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources listed in the notes, the author accessed Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, SABR’s BioProject via SABR.org, The Sporting News archive via Paper of Record, and the Cincinnati Inquirer and St. Louis Post Dispatch via newspapers.com.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN198908300.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1989/B08300SLN1989.htm

Notes

1 Bill James, “Game Scores,” The 1988 Bill James Baseball Abstract (New York, Ballantine: 1988), 31-33.

2 Jeff Angus, “Does ‘Game Score’ Still Work in Today’s High-Offense Game?,” SABR Baseball Research Journal, Vol. 39, No. 1 (2010): 39-48, https://sabr.org/journal/article/does-game-score-still-work-in-todays-high-offense-game/.

3 Barker had a 98 Game Score for his perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 15, 1981; Witt had a 97 for his perfect game against the Texas Rangers on September 30, 1984.

4 Scott had a 98 Game Score for his no-hitter of the San Francisco Giants on September 25, 1986.

5 Clemens had a 97 Game Score for his 20-strikeout win over the Seattle Mariners on April 29, 1986.

6 Keough had a 98 Game Score for his 14-inning win over the Blue Jays on May 17, 1980; McCatty had a 96 for his 14-inning loss to the Mariners on August 10, 1980.

7 Ryan’s top Game Score of the 1980s was 96 against the Montreal Expos on July 22, 1986, when he pitched 9 1/3 innings and received a no-decision in the Astros’ 1-0, 10-inning win. Ryan’s no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 26, 1981, netted a Game Score of 95.

8 Michael Paolercio, “Mahler may be replaced,” Cincinnati Enquirer, August 31, 1989: 20.

9 Dave Luecking, “DeLeon’s 1-Hit Effort Wasted,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, August 31, 1989: 34.

10 Luecking. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch erroneously reported that the Cardinals’ 16 runners left on base was a major-league record for a team being shut out, but the record at that time was 19 left on by the Boston Braves in a 2-0 loss to the Pirates in 1918, since tied by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.

11 Luecking.

12 Luecking.

13 Vahe Gregorian, “Mahler on DeLeon: “It was Definitely His Night,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, August 31, 1989: 34.

14 For comparison, Mahler’s effort earned a Game Score of 76, and his 156 pitches thrown were the ninth most of the 1989 season.