By Zane Miller
A few months ago I covered the story of the most recent scoreless tie in an MLB game going at least nine innings, which was the 0-0 draw between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets on October 2nd, 1965. That contest not only went the full nine innings, but actually lasted through the 18th inning before being called due to curfews set by the National League at the time. It’s an interesting story for sure and I’d definitely recommend checking out that article for more details, but it would not be accurate to call it the most recent scoreless tie in MLB history. That honor(?) belongs to the September 13th, 1989 contest between the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals.
On a rainy night in St. Louis, it would be veteran pitcher Jose DeLeon taking the mound for the Redbirds, as he went up against his former team after having played for the Pirates from 1983 to 1986. Going into the matchup, he held a 15-11 record with 180 strikeouts and a 3.01 ERA in 221.1 innings pitched. Speaking of the Pirates, they sent out starter Doug Drabek, who was also having a solid year with a 12-11 record, 3.05 ERA and 105 strikeouts over the course of 215.2 innings pitched. However, Pittsburgh was well out of playoff contention, as they had struggled to a 65-79 record despite winning the first two games of the series. The Cardinals, on the other hand, still had a chance of chasing down the NL East-leading Chicago Cubs, though their most recent losses were obviously not helping matters. At the end of this game, however, nobody would be going home with the win.
After both sides went down in order in the first inning, the Cardinals got the first hit of the evening in the bottom of the second inning with right fielder Tom Brunansky getting a single, but Drabek retired the side shortly after. The fourth inning came around with DeLeon continuing to mow down the Pirates’ order, and St. Louis was able to put together a two-out rally with a walk and single. However, Drabek got himself out of the jam unscathed, this time getting Brunansky to ground out harmlessly.
After another one-two-three inning pitched by DeLeon in the top of the fifth, the Cardinals would get their best scoring opportunity of the game in the bottom of the frame. Back-to-back singles by second baseman Jose Oquendo and former Pirate catcher Tony Pena set up the threat, which was further intensified when DeLeon was able to move them over to second and third on a sacrifice bunt. With just one out in the inning, Drabek needed to dig deep and he would do just that. Center fielder Willie McGee was retired on a groundout which did not allow the runners to advance, while future Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith also grounded out to second base, leaving St. Louis empty-handed after another promising rally.
Perhaps sensing the impending rain clouds, the Pirates began a scoring threat of their own. Drabek took advantage of a fielding error by left fielder Milt Thompson to take second, followed by a walk from leadoff hitter John Cangelosi. However, before shortstop Jay Bell could even get an opportunity to break the deadlock, the sky opened up. With heavy rain now falling and the field unplayable, the game was declared official with neither team crossing home plate. Despite not being nearly as interesting as the Phillies-Mets game from 1965, the Pirates-Cardinals contest surpassed it as the newest 0-0 tie.
While it is important to note that all stats from the game were added to the players’ totals, thus making it count as an official game, MLB rules at the time mandated that all games which ended in ties would need to be made up from the beginning. Serendipitously, both teams had an off day scheduled for the following day, so the make-up game was slotted in for that Thursday afternoon. The replayed contest became notable for only bringing in a crowd of around 1,500 people, the smallest reported attendance in the history of the second iteration of Busch Stadium. However, the crowd that did show up got to see a close game, which the Pirates ultimately claimed 4-3 after a three-run seventh inning.
With recent MLB rule changes allowing suspended games to be resumed from the point of stoppage rather than started again from scratch, it is unlikely, but not impossible, to have another MLB game end in a scoreless tie. After all, should both teams involved in a suspended game be eliminated from the playoffs, a regular season tie, and by extension, a scoreless tie, could still be in the cards. However, with how rare the scenario would need to be, the mid-September matchup between the Pirates and Cardinals will likely hold that crown for the foreseeable future.
Link to stats database: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN198909130.shtml
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