What is a Complete Game? Definition and Examples
A complete game is credited to a pitcher who records every out of a game for his team — all 27 outs in a nine-inning game — without being relieved.
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What is a Complete Game?
A complete game (CG) is an official statistic awarded to a pitcher who throws every pitch for his team from the first out to the last. In a standard nine-inning game, that means recording all 27 outs without a reliever entering. If the game goes to extra innings, the pitcher must finish those too. A pitcher who starts and is removed at any point — even with two outs in the ninth — does not get a complete game.
How It's Recorded
The criteria are simple and binary:
- The pitcher must be the only pitcher his team uses in the game.
- The game must be official (at least five innings, or 4.5 if the home team leads).
- In a rain-shortened official game, a pitcher can earn a complete game in fewer than nine innings — a five-inning complete game counts in the record books.
A complete game that is also a shutout is recorded as both a CG and an SHO. A complete game with no hits allowed is, of course, a no-hitter.
Worked Example
On June 21, 2023, Domingo Germán of the New York Yankees threw a perfect game against the Oakland Athletics: 9 innings, 99 pitches, 27 up and 27 down. That is a complete game, a shutout, a no-hitter, and a perfect game simultaneously — the rarest stacking of pitching achievements possible.
For a more typical modern example, consider a workhorse start: 9 innings, 112 pitches, 6 hits, 2 runs, 8 strikeouts, 1 walk. The pitcher earns the complete game and the win but not the shutout. In 2023, only 35 complete games were thrown across all of MLB — roughly one per team per season — compared to over 1,000 per season in the 1970s.
Why It Matters
The complete game is the clearest marker of the shift in pitching philosophy over 50 years. Modern pitch-count management, bullpen specialization, and third-time-through-the-order penalties have made the CG nearly extinct. Front offices now evaluate starters on efficiency per inning rather than durability across nine. For fans and historians, a complete game signals a pitcher dominating deeply enough into a game that the manager never had a reason to make a move. In fantasy baseball, complete games and shutouts often carry bonus points in custom leagues, making workhorse starters marginally more valuable.
Limitations and Misconceptions
A complete game says nothing about quality. A pitcher who allows 8 runs over 9 innings gets a CG; a pitcher who throws 8.2 scoreless innings does not. It's an endurance record, not a performance grade — metrics like game score or quality start capture dominance better. Also note: a losing pitcher can earn a complete game. If the visiting pitcher goes 8 innings in a loss (no bottom of the ninth needed), it's still a complete game — the "complete game loss" is a recognized line in the record books.
In Legends Deck: Pitcher cards with high stamina and durability ratings can work deeper into simulated games, and complete games feed into a pitcher's legacy stats and card milestones, rewarding aces built for nine-inning workloads.