Wednesday night, Justin Verlander gave the reeling New York Mets the kind of dominant start the club had not received basically all season. Verlander held an admittedly weak Cincinnati Reds lineup to one run on two hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out seven and the Mets won the game 2-1 (box score).
"He smelled it the last couple innings," Mets manager Buck Showalter told MLB.com about Verlander pitching into the seventh inning at a time when New York's bullpen was gassed. "You could tell he was smelling it."
For Verlander, it was his first win with the Mets and the 245th win of his career. It was also his first career win over the Reds. Granted, it was only Verlander's third career start against the Reds given how much time he's spent in the American League (his entire career prior to joining the Mets), but still, it was his first ever win against Cincinnati.
With Wednesday's win over the Reds, Verlander became the 21st pitcher in history to record a win over all 30 teams. This dates back to 1998, when the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays joined the league. Here are the 21 pitchers and the date they beat their 30th team.
Justin Verlander (May 10, 2023 vs. Reds)
Vicente Padilla (Aug. 10, 2010 vs. Phillies)
Gerrit Cole (July 10, 2021 vs. Astros)
Javier Vazquez (June 21, 2010 vs. Angels)
Zack Greinke (Sept. 14, 2019 vs. Royals)
Barry Zito (June 12, 2010 vs. Athletics)
Bartolo Colon (Aug. 20, 2017 vs. D-Backs)
Randy Johnson (April 19, 2009 vs. D-Backs)
Max Scherzer (May 11, 2016 vs. Tigers)
Jamie Moyer (May 26, 2008 vs. Phillies)
John Lackey (April 18, 2016 vs. Cardinals)
Woody Williams (Sept. 26, 2006 vs. Cardinals)
Tim Hudson (July 26, 2015 vs. Athletics)
Curt Schilling (Sept. 10, 2004 vs. Mariners)
Kyle Lohse (June 26, 2015 vs. Twins)
Terry Mulholland (July 19, 2004 vs. Tigers)
Dan Haren (Aug. 9, 2013 vs. Phillies)
Kevin Brown (March 21, 2004 vs. Devil Rays)
A.J. Burnett (July 21, 2012 vs. Marlins)
Al Leiter (April 30, 2002 vs. D-Backs)
Derek Lowe (May 10, 2012 vs. Red Sox)
Most pitchers in this group are well-traveled -- Hudson and Zito had the highest degree of difficulty because they only played for two teams in their careers -- giving them more chances to beat more teams. They're all great pitchers though. Every one of them. You have to be to hang around long enough to beat all 30 teams at least once.
"Any time you do something that not many people have done in this game, it's pretty cool," Verlander told MLB.com about beating all 30 teams.
MLB adopted a new, more balanced schedule this season and every team will play every other team at least once each year. That means current pitchers will have many more opportunities to face and beat all 30 teams than the guys on that list, who were subject to the rotating interleague schedule. They faced teams in the other league only once every three years.
Verlander, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, signed a two-year, $86.6 million contract with the Mets this past offseason. He missed the start of the season with a teres major muscle strain and Wednesday was his second start with New York. Verlander is a Hall of Fame lock and the best chance for a 300-win pitcher for the foreseeable future.
The Mets are 18-19 and tied for third place in the NL East. They are seven games behind the first place Atlanta Braves. New York had lost 12 of its previous 15 games prior to Wednesday night, with most of those losses coming against non-contenders.
