Almost Perfect: 3 flawless bids lost on the 27th batter
Max Scherzer had a mulligan. The three pitchers on this list weren't so fortunate.
The Washington Nationals ace secured the first no-hitter of his career Saturday, but not before becoming the 13th pitcher in MLB history to lose a perfect game with two outs in the ninth. He joins Milt Pappas (1972) and George Wiltse (1908) as the only pitchers to lose their perfect game after 26 outs and still throw a no-hitter.
Related: Scherzer loses perfect game in 9th, throws 1st career no-hitter
But while Scherzer's perfect bid was undone on a hit by pitch - just the second such time that's ever happened - these three pitchers suffered a much more heartbreaking fate: they lost a perfect game and no-hitter on the 27th batter.
Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers (April 4, 2013)
One year before Darvish lost his bid at a no-hitter on the final batter of his May 9, 2014 outing, the Rangers ace fell on even harder luck in Houston.
Darvish flirted with a perfect game through 26 outs before Astros shortstop (and No. 9 hitter, of course) Marwin Gonzalez poked a single up the middle to spoil the right-hander's shot at history.
Darvish's final line was better than most perfect games or no-hitters: 14 strikeouts, no walks, and one hit, with 70 percent of his pitches thrown for strikes over 8 2/3 innings.
Yusmeiro Petit, San Francisco Giants (Sept. 13, 2013)
Five months after Darvish dazzled in Texas, Petit put on a show of his own in San Francisco.
While not quite as dominant as Darvish, Petit also came within an out of perfection, and did so rather impressively. The Venezuelan native needed just 95 pitches over nine innings of work to dispose of his former club, the Arizona Diamondbacks, punching out seven along the way.
The hit? No doubt, a tough one to swallow. Arizona's Eric Chavez lined a rope into right field just out of the reach of a diving Hunter Pence.
Armando Galarraga, Detroit Tigers (June 2, 2010)
In a game that needs little introduction, June 2, 2010 will go down as perhaps the greatest officiating blunder in the history of the sport.
Galarraga, one out away from a perfect game, was robbed of his place in history when umpire Jim Joyce ruled Cleveland Indians infielder Jason Donald beat the Tigers right-hander to first base on a grounder fielded by Miguel Cabrera.
The video speaks for itself, but you can't help but think how Galarraga - who last pitched in the majors in 2012 - would be one of just 24 pitchers to throw a perfect game if it had been played under the current rules of expanded replay.
(Videos courtesy: MLB.com)