Chicago Cubs: Ranking Alec Mills’ no-hitter in history

Today, we rank all 16 Chicago Cubs no-hitters in order of dominance.

The no-hitter thrown Sunday in Milwaukee by Alec Mills was the 16th in the long history of the Chicago Cubs.

Not all no-hitters, however, are created equal. Some are partially marred by bases on balls, errors, and even – very occasionally – runs.

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How does Mills’ no-hitter measure up against the other 15 thrown in Cubs history?

Bill James some years ago developed a tool for comparing pitching performances. James calls it Game Score. There are eight components:

• Base of 50 points
• Add one for each out recorded.
• Add two for each inning completed after the fourth.
• Add one for each strikeout.
• Subtract two for each hit allowed.
• Subtract for four each earned run allowed.
• Subtract two for each unearned run allowed.
• Subtract one for each walk allowed.

In case you are wondering which no-hit pitcher holds the franchise record for the highest Game Score, the answer is …none of them. On May 6, 1998, Cubs rookie Kerry Wood shut out the Houston Astros 2-0 in a 20-strikeout complete-game performance. Wood did not walk anybody, but he did allow one scratch hit in the second inning that denied him no-hit fame.

Wood’s Game Score for that 20-strikeout, one-hit outing? It was a franchise-record 105.

Mills became the 12th different Cubs pitcher to record a no-hitter. One of the dozen, John Clarkson, is a Hall of Famer. Another, Larry Corcoran, not only threw the franchise’s first no-hitter on Aug. 19, 1880, he also threw the second and third.

The last to do so before Mills was Jake Arrieta, who threw one against the Dodgers on Aug. 30, 2015, then duplicated it in Cincinnati April 21, 2016.

From least to most impressive, here’s the lineup of all-time Cubs no-hitters.