Each team's best single-game performance of '25

As we say goodbye to 2025, it's a good time to revisit some of the best moments of the past season. From 13-strikeout complete games to multiple four-homer performances, the 2025 campaign featured excitement all across MLB.

With the help of all 30 MLB.com beat writers, here's a look at each team's best single-game performance in 2025.

Jump to: AL East | AL Central | AL West | NL East | NL Central | NL West

American League East

Blue Jays: Trey Yesavage, AL Division Series Game 2 vs. Yankees
What a season this was for Yesavage, the rookie who opened the year by making his pro debut in Single-A and ended it pitching in the World Series. His finest moment came in his postseason debut against the Yankees at home, where he struck out 11 over 5 1/3 innings of no-hit ball. It was as dominant a pitching performance as we’ve ever seen from a Blue Jays pitcher in the postseason as Yesavage baffled the Yankees with his incredible splitter. -- Keegan Matheson

Orioles: Brandon Young, Aug. 15 at Houston
There’s never been a perfect game in the history of the O’s/Browns franchise. Young almost became the first on a Friday night in Houston, where the Lumberton, Texas native authored one of the most impressive pitching performances in MLB this year. The right-hander retired the first 23 Astros batters before Ramón Urías -- who had been traded by the Orioles on July 31 -- ended Young’s perfecto bid with four outs to go via an infield single recorded on a tapper hit to the left side of the mound. Young retired 24 of 25 batters faced in his eight-inning scoreless gem. -- Jake Rill

Rays: Junior Caminero, May 31 at Houston
Caminero’s unbelievable performance in the Rays’ 16-3 romp over the Astros may have been overshadowed, believe it or not, because starter Zack Littell pitched Tampa Bay’s first complete game since Ryan Yarbrough went the distance in June 2021. Josh Lowe homered and had three hits and Jake Mangum hit his first MLB homer, too. But Caminero made some history of his own with a career-high four hits, his first multihomer game, two doubles, four runs scored and five RBIs, becoming the first player in franchise history with at least four extra-base hits and at least five RBIs in the same game. -- Adam Berry

Red Sox: Garrett Crochet blanks Rays, July 12 at Fenway
The Red Sox knew they had something special in Crochet the moment they executed the trade with the White Sox to acquire him last December. On July 12, they saw what Crochet looks like at his very best, when he fired a three-hit shutout against the Rays that included no walks and nine strikeouts in just 100 pitches. The timing was superb in that it ran Boston’s eventual season-long winning streak of 10 games to nine. All season, Crochet had the ability to start a winning streak, keep one going or stop a losing streak in its tracks. -- Ian Browne

Yankees: Cam Schlittler, AL Wild Card Series Game 3 vs. Red Sox
Schlittler pitched the game of his life with the Yankees’ season on the line, fueled by the vitriol of online trolls who chirped at his family members. Schlittler was overpowering, scattering five singles over eight scoreless innings and striking out 12 without a walk as he relished putting an end to Boston’s season in a history-making performance. Routinely exceeding triple digits with his crackling fastball, Schlittler set a new franchise record for strikeouts in a postseason debut, outdoing Red Ruffing (1932) and Dave Righetti (1981). -- Bryan Hoch

AL Central

Guardians: Gavin Williams, Aug. 6 at Mets
In the Guardians' 4-1 win at Citi Field, Williams nearly ended Cleveland's 44-year no-hitter drought, which dates to Len Barker's perfect game on May 15, 1981. The right-hander’s bid ended when he allowed a one-out solo home run to Juan Soto in the ninth inning, on a 1-0 four-seam fastball on the outer half of the plate. Nonetheless, it was an incredible effort by Williams that was reflective of the major strides he took in 2025. Over 8 2/3 innings, he threw 126 pitches (75 strikes), struck out six and overcame four walks to come two outs shy of history. -- Tim Stebbins

Royals: Noah Cameron, April 30 at Tampa Bay
First up on the Royals’ depth chart, Cameron was called up for his debut on April 30 at George M. Steinbrenner Field. The start foreshadowed what was to come for Cameron, who posted a 2.99 ERA and finished fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting. On this night, Cameron carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, becoming the eighth pitcher since 1961 to record a no-hit bid of at least 6 1/3 innings in his debut. Cameron earned the win, allowing just one hit while striking out three. It was a storybook start for the local kid. -- Anne Rogers

Tigers: Tarik Skubal, May 25 vs. Guardians
Not only did Skubal toss his first career complete game, he threw a Maddux, shutting out Cleveland on two hits and no walks in just 94 pitches. His final pitch was a 102.6 mph fastball -- the hardest pitch thrown by a Tigers pitcher in the Statcast era (since 2015), and the hardest ninth-inning pitch by an MLB starter under pitch tracking (since 2008) -- to fan Gabriel Arias for his 13th strikeout, the most ever by a pitcher throwing a Maddux. It sent Skubal on a four-start stretch of 30 2/3 innings of one-run ball, setting him up for his second consecutive AL Cy Young award. -- Jason Beck

Twins: Byron Buxton, July 12 vs. Pirates
What else could it be? On his bobblehead day, three days before his home-state All-Star Game appearance, Buxton delighted the Target Field crowd with his first cycle and the first in the 16-season history of the ballpark. He went 5-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBIs in a 12-4 thumping of the Bucs, capping it with a home run to straightaway center. Considering that he also flashed his speed with an infield single, it was a perfect encapsulation of all the ways Buxton can make an impact on offense. -- Matthew Leach

White Sox: Shane Smith, Sept. 28 at Nationals
The right-hander saved his best for last by retiring the first 16 batters he faced during the final game of the regular season at Nationals Park, before Brady House singled to right with one out in the sixth. Smith retired 18 of the 19 Nationals hitters faced, striking out eight and not issuing a walk. He exited after those six innings and 73 pitches, so Smith’s workload was on track to complete history if he had the chance. Team win No. 60 came via an 8-0 shellacking for the White Sox behind three home runs and the All-Star rookie’s near-perfect mound finish. -- Scott Merkin

AL West

Angels: Yusei Kikuchi, June 25 vs. Red Sox
Kikuchi was dominant against a solid Boston lineup, striking out 12 batters and allowing no earned runs over seven innings with just three hits allowed in a 5-2 win at Angel Stadium. The 12 strikeouts were tied for the second-most in his career and just shy of his career high of 13. He registered 20 swings and misses among his 105 pitches and kept the Red Sox off-balance all game. -- Rhett Bollinger

Astros: Jake Meyers, May 3 at White Sox
Meyers carried the Astros to an 8-3 win in Chicago by going 4-for-4 with a club-record-tying 13 total bases and a career-high seven RBIs. He became the only Astros player to have two homers, a triple and a double in the same game, all done while batting ninth in the order. Among the other Astros players to have 13 total bases are Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Joe Morgan, along with slugger Yordan Alvarez, who did it twice. Pretty heady company. How unlikely was Meyers’ performance that day? He managed seven RBIs in his next 160 at-bats, covering 45 games. -- Brian McTaggart

Athletics: Nick Kurtz, July 25 at Houston
Kurtz tormented Astros pitching by going a perfect 6-for-6 with four home runs and eight RBIs at Daikin Park to become the first A’s player in franchise history with a four-homer game, the first rookie in MLB history with a four-homer game and just the 20th player overall. With 19 total bases, he also tied Shawn Green in 2002 for the most in a game all time. Three of Kurtz’s blasts went the opposite way to left, while the other was a mammoth 414-foot shot into the second deck in right. His double in the fourth was just a few feet shy of a home run, which would have made him the first player in MLB history with a five-homer game. -- Martín Gallegos

Mariners: Cal Raleigh hits 59th, 60th homers in division clincher, Sept. 24 vs. Rockies
Reaching the historical round number was always going to be a season-encapsulating milestone, yet the way in which Raleigh did it was even more remarkable than anyone could’ve envisioned. Seattle’s all-world catcher crushed his 60th homer of 2025 to put the Mariners up, 9-1, in the eighth inning against the Rockies and all but ensured that their long-awaited AL West title was incoming momentarily. But that wasn’t even his best homer of the night, as he crushed No. 59 in the first inning and reached the third deck in right field -- territory that only seven others had visited prior in T-Mobile Park’s 27-year history. -- Daniel Kramer

Rangers: Nathan Eovaldi’s 99-pitch shutout, April 1 at Reds
The Rangers’ co-ace has been every bit of what the club has wanted over the last three seasons, and during an early-season trip to Cincinnati, he showed that once again. Eovaldi tossed a 99-pitch shutout against the Reds that evening, marking the Rangers' first "Maddux" since Colby Lewis on Sept. 11, 2015, against the A's at Globe Life Park. To make it even better, Greg Maddux’s older brother, Mike, watched from the top steps of the dugout as the Rangers' pitching coach. -- Kennedi Landry

National League East

Braves: Grant Holmes, June 15 vs. Rockies
How frustrating was 2025 for the Braves? Well, their best individual performance came in a 10-1 loss to the Rockies. Holmes was saddled with an unfortunate loss despite striking out 15 of the 24 batters he faced. The 15 K's matched John Smoltz for the second-most ever recorded by a Braves pitcher in a game that lasted nine innings or fewer. Spencer Strider had 16 strikeouts in a 2022 game against the Rockies. Holmes actually struck out 14 of the 21 batters he faced through six innings. But he retired just one of the three batters faced during what became a six-run seventh for the Rockies. -- Mark Bowman

Marlins: Kyle Stowers, July 13 at Orioles
Stowers capped an All-Star first half with the first three-homer and five-hit game of his career in an 11-1 victory over the Orioles in Baltimore. He became the first Marlins player to record five hits and six RBIs in a game and the fifth player in MLB history to hit three homers against the team that traded him the previous season or the same season. Only three others have gone deep three times in a game in franchise history: Brian Anderson (2020), Cody Ross (2006) and Mike Lowell (2004). -- Christina De Nicola

Mets: David Peterson, June 11 vs. Nationals
In retrospect, Peterson’s performance in a 5-0 win over the Nationals might have been the high point of the Mets' season, coming just days before they began their long slide down the NL standings. Even back then, Mets pitchers were struggling to go more than four or five innings with regularity. Peterson became a routine exception, often giving the Mets much-needed length. The highlight came on June 11, when he threw a six-hit shutout with six strikeouts and no walks. It was the Mets’ first shutout by a left-handed pitcher in six years. -- Anthony DiComo

Nationals: MacKenzie Gore strikes out 13 on Opening Day, March 27 vs. Phillies
Gore was named the Nationals' Opening Day starter for the first time and he responded with a record-setting performance. Gore struck out 13 batters in six scoreless innings against the Phillies. He joined the exclusive company of Hall of Famer Bob Gibson (1967) as the only pitchers in AL/NL history with 13 strikeouts and no walks in a scoreless outing on Opening Day. Gore set a franchise record, passing Max Scherzer's team mark of 12 set in 2019 against the Mets. ​​Also in the running was James Wood's two-homer, five-RBI showcase against the Dodgers on April 8. -- Jessica Camerato

Phillies: Kyle Schwarber hits four homers, Aug. 28 vs. Braves
Schwarber became just the 21st player in Major League history to hit four home runs in a single game when he did so in the Phillies' 19-4 win over the Braves at Citizens Bank Park. He is the fourth Phillies player to accomplish the feat, joining Mike Schmidt (April 17, 1976), Chuck Klein (July 10, 1936) and Ed Delahanty (July 13, 1896). He started his night with a 450-foot solo blast to the second deck in right field in the first. He hit a towering two-run homer down the right-field line in the third, then went the opposite way for a three-run homer in the fifth. He hit a three-run homer in the seventh. Afterward, he shot his cameo for an episode of Abbott Elementary. -- Todd Zolecki

NL Central

Brewers: Christian Yelich, Aug. 15 at Reds
Trailing by seven runs in the second inning with a 12-game winning streak in serious peril, Yelich led the way in a comeback for the ages for a 10-8 victory over the Reds, all while swinging a Bob Uecker tribute bat that he waited a full year to carry to home plate. Uecker never had a night like this. Yelich hit a solo home run in the second inning, keyed the comeback from the Reds’ seven-run second with a run-scoring double in a five-run third, tied the game at 8-8 with a two-run single in the fourth that left him a triple shy of his fourth career cycle against Cincinnati, then spoiled that bid in the sixth by belting a go-ahead solo homer instead. -- Adam McCalvy

Cardinals: Iván Herrera's three-homer game, April 2 vs. Angels
With apologies to Brendan Donovan’s history-tying four-double night on Sept. 23, and Sonny Gray’s 89-pitch, one-hit shutout on June 27, the 25-year-old Herrera showed off his massive potential on April 2 by mashing three homers. He became the first catcher in the 144-year history of the Cardinals to do that -- something neither Hall of Famer Ted Simmons nor likely future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina ever accomplished. Herrera, who had six RBIs and used the second and third decks at Busch Stadium as target practice, went a projected 395 feet, 414 feet and 425 feet with his three clouts, and the exit velocities registered at 101.2 mph, 112.1 mph and 110.7 mph, per Statcast. -- John Denton

Cubs: Pete Crow-Armstrong flashes defense and power, June 17 vs. Brewers
It’s tempting to pick Carson Kelly’s cycle (March 31 at A’s) or Michael Busch’s three-homer game (July 4 vs. Cardinals), but the show Crow-Armstrong put on against the Brewers in June stands out. In the top of the eighth, the Gold Glover made an incredible grab to rob Brice Turang of a hit on a deep fly that had a 5% catch probability. It was one of Crow-Armstrong’s single-season-record 19 five-star catches (0-25%). Then in the home half of the eighth, he led off with a Statcast-projected 452-foot homer that bounced off the right-field scoreboard at Wrigley Field. The Cubs won, 5-3, and the old ballpark was rocking amid a signature moment in PCA’s journey to the first 30-homer, 30-double, 30-steal season in team history. -- Jordan Bastian

Pirates: Paul Skenes, May 18 at Phillies
Wait, the Cy Young Award winner’s best performance of the season was in a losing effort? Skenes dominated one of the most vaunted lineups in the game in this Sunday matinee, striking out nine with a season-high 22 whiffs against three hits and one walk over eight innings. A fifth-inning Brandon Marsh groundout gave the Phillies the only run in the game and Skenes’ first career complete game came with a 1-0 loss. When asked by the media if he wanted to keep the ball, he joked, "only if it gets authenticated with an asterisk next to it." It was an eight-inning complete game. -- Alex Stumpf

Reds: Spencer Steer, June 27 vs. Padres
On the same night that Nick Martinez took a no-hitter into the ninth inning, Steer powered Cincinnati's 8-1 win with three home runs over each of his first three plate appearances. It was the first three-homer game of his career and the first for the Reds since Jesse Winker on June 6, 2021 at St. Louis. The third homer, a two-run drive to the first row of left-field seats, came in the fifth inning. Batting once more in the eighth, Steer struck out to miss out on a rare four-homer game. -- Mark Sheldon

NL West

D-backs: Eugenio Suárez, April 26 vs. Braves
Suárez became the 19th player in Major League history to hit four home runs in a game as he was a one-man wrecking crew against the Atlanta pitching staff. Having homered in his first three at-bats, Suárez stepped to the plate in the ninth against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias and launched home run No. 4 to tie the game at 7-7. Unfortunately for the D-backs, they would go on to lose, 8-7, in 10 innings. -- Steve Gilbert

Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani, NLCS Game 4 vs. Brewers
Forget the best single-game performance of this season -- Ohtani's three-homer, 10-strikeout NLCS Game 4 is in the conversation for one of the greatest games of all time. With the Dodgers a win away from returning to the World Series, Ohtani tossed six scoreless innings on the mound to go with his trio of long balls, one of which soared out of Dodger Stadium entirely. It earned Ohtani NLCS MVP honors despite the fact that he had been slumping in the first three games. It also supplanted his 50-50 game from the prior season as his signature performance as a Dodger. -- Sonja Chen

Giants: Wilmer Flores, May 16 vs. A’s
Flores enjoyed the best offensive performance of his 13-year career in a 9-1 win over the A’s, crushing a career-high three home runs -- including a grand slam -- while recording eight RBIs. The popular infielder became the first player to deliver a three-homer game for the Giants since Joc Pederson in 2022. -- Maria Guardado

Padres: Mason Miller’s immaculate inning, Sept. 3 vs. Orioles
By definition, every immaculate inning is a dominant performance. But few relief outings have ever been this dominant. Miller struck out all three hitters he faced in short order. He threw nine straight sliders. The Orioles had no chance. They swung at the final eight of them and missed all eight – no foul balls, no foul tips. In the process, Miller joined Brian Lawrence as the only pitchers in Padres history to throw an immaculate inning. (Coincidentally, Lawrence also did so against Baltimore.) -- AJ Cassavell

Rockies: Jordan Beck’s two home runs, April 25 vs. Reds
Sometimes players do good things even though the team result is bad. Beck clubbed two home runs in an 8-7 home loss to the Reds on April 25, but what he did the previous day made the performance even more special. Beck went deep in a 7-4 loss in the first game of a doubleheader at Kansas City, then homered twice in the second game, a 6-2 loss. Five homers in a three-game stretch had been achieved eight other times in club history, by six different players. Beck was the first player to hit five homers in three straight losses since 2016, with the Twins’ Brian Dozier (Sept. 4-6) and the Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon (Aug. 14-16) doing so. -- Thomas Harding