UPDATE WEDNESDAY: Dave Cameron of USS Mariner takes me to task (gently) for my list, and instructs me to check out this ranking of Mariners' pitching performances from Baseball Reference's Play Index. As Dave points out, the Play Index is a formula created by Bill James to evaluate individual games by pitchers. Washburn gets an 88, which ranks 32nd in Mariners' history. This system gives heavy weight to strikeouts, so not surprisingly Randy Johnson dominates -- 11 of the top 15 ranked games are by the Big Unit. Number one on the list is the Erik Hanson game that I highlight at the end of this post. No. 2 is Johnson's 1-hitter against the Angels. Four games in my top 10 were also ranked in the top 10 by Play Index, if you count the Hanson game, which I didn't originally include but later cited as a Top 10 performance.

Dave's right -- I wouldn't rank strikeouts quite so highly as James does (but who am I to argue with Bill James?). And I have to question a system that ranks Chris Bosio's no-hitter -- in which the only baserunners he allowed were two walks to start the game, followed by 27 straight outs -- as the 24th-best pitching performance in club history. But I respect Dave greatly, so I'll look at it more closely, and put it out there for everyone to consider.

*See update at end, adding Erik Hanson's game against Oakland, 1990

By any standards, last night's masterpiece by Jarrod Washburn ranks as one of the greatest pitching performances in Mariners history.

In fact, I'd put it in the top 10, and possibly the top five. As you know, Washburn faced just 28 batters, allowing a fourth-inning single to Nick Markakis and no other baserunners -- 28 batters faced.

According to research provided by the Mariners' baseball information department, it was the sixth time in club history that a Mariners' pitcher has faced 28 or fewer batters in a complete-game performance.

Three of those games really stand out, starting with Brian Holman's outing against Oakland on April 20, 1990, one of the most famous games in Mariners' history. Holman retired the first 26 batters, only to have Ken Phelps ruin the perfect game with a two-out home run, pinch-hitting for Mike Gallego. Holman then struck out Rickey Henderson (a big thanks to the wonderful website retrosheet.org for the play-by-play help) to complete the one-hitter and a 6-1 Seattle win. Holman didn't even get the shutout, but that certainly ranks as one of the top five games in Seattle history.

The other one-hitter that stands out is Mike Moore's 11-0 win over Milwaukee on Sept. 17, 1988. That was the only game in Seattle history in which a pitcher faced the minimum 27 batters. Moore fired a two-hitter and didn't walk any, striking out eight. Both hits were erased by double plays. Jeffrey Leonard had a one-out single in the second, but Greg Brock hit into a double play. And Rob Deer led off the fifth with a single, Leonard struck out, and Brock hit into another DP. And that was it off Moore. Keep in mind he was facing a lineup with two future Hall of Famers -- Paul Molitor and Robin Yount -- and a possible third Hall of Famer, Gary Sheffield. I'd put that in the top five as well.

Certainly, you'd have to include Chris Bosio's no-hitter against Boston on April 22, 1993 -- probably at the top of the list. I had forgotten the circumstances of that game -- a 7-0 Mariners' win at the Kingdome -- until I looked it up. Amazing. Bosio walked the first two batters he faced -- Ernest Riles and Carlos Quintana. And then Bosio pitched, in essence, a perfect game, getting the next 27 outs in order. Mike Greenwell hit into a double play, and Andre Dawson struck out to end the first, and Bosio went 24 up, 24 down the rest of the way -- ending, of course, with Omar Vizquel's famous bare-hand play on Riles' grounder.

The two other games in which a Mariners' pitcher faced 28 batters: