Who had the last perfect game in MLB? Rare baseball achievement revisited after Drew Smyly's failed bid

Chicago Cubs pitcher Drew Smyly was in the middle of a perfect game against the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup on Friday before disaster struck. In seven innings, the pitcher stifled the mighty Los Angeles lineup before David Peralta hit a dribbler down the third-base line on the second pitch of the eighth inning.

The heartbreaking moment saw Smyly run towards the ball up with his back to first base. However, when he turned to make the throw to first, Cubs catcher Yan Gomes ran into him, causing both players to end up on the deck.

When Peralta reached first base, the official scorer gave the outfielder a hit on the play, ending Smyly's bid for a perfect game or a no-hitter. The Cubs pitcher eventually left the game later in the inning with a final line of 7.2 innings pitched, one hit, no walks and 10 strikeouts.

Achieving a perfect game is one of the rarest feats in the MLB. Interestingly, the last perfect game took place more than a decade ago, on August 15, 2012, when Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez blanked the Tampa Bay Rays in a 1-0 win for his side.

Hernandez threw 113 pitches in the Mariners' stunning victory with 12 strikeouts.

Interestingly, there were a total of three perfect games played in the MLB that season. While nearly 11 years have passed since the last perfect game, there have been players who have come close to achieving the feat.

Following Hernandez's perfect game, there have been 39 no-hitters, including nine combined no-hitters in the league.

How many perfect games have there been in the MLB?

Felix Hernandez after his perfect game for the Seattle Mariners in 2012

A perfect game is basically a complete game pitched without a runner reaching base either by hit, base-on-balls, or error.

As of April 2023, there have only been 23 perfect games recorded in major league history. The first two came way back in 1880.