San Francisco Giants: The 16 Best Moments of 2016

9 of 17

Sep 21, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Matt Moore (45) pitches during the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 9: Matt Moore‘s Near No-Hitter

While the division was slowly slipping away from the Giants, the Wild Card was close to doing the same as well. The Giants lost two terrible games to the Dodgers, couldn’t get anybody home, and blew the game in the ninth leading to a recurring theme for the entire second half of the season. However, the newly acquired Matt Moore attempted to buck that trend.

Moore threw 8.2 innings of no-hit ball, striking out seven and walking three. He threw a career high 133 pitches, and on pitch number 133,

Corey Seager

took a fastball off the hands and muscled it over the second base and it dropped in front of

Gorkys Hernandez

Moore didn’t get the no-hitter, and Santiago Casilla got the final out on the very next pitch.

While it didn’t help the Giants get to the division, it actually helped get them a Wild Card spot in the long run. The biggest thing it did? Shut up a lot of critics on the Matt Duffy trade. Matt Duffy was never going to be an elite player. Matt Moore has shown flashes of being an elite pitcher. He did that night, and later on against Colorado, and later on against the Cubs in the postseason. Moore was worth the price paid, and this performance helped validate the move.