1) CC Sabathia -- Sept. 28, 2008, vs. Cubs

After making a case in our hitter ranking that context counts, we must be consistent in lining up pitching performances. Consider what rested on Sabathia’s shoulders as he took the mound for the Brewers in the final regular-season game of 2008. After a quarter-century of futility, Milwaukee was slumping to the finish. Manager Ned Yost had been fired with 12 games to go in an unprecedented move. Sabathia, acquired from Cleveland on July 7, was making his third consecutive start on short rest and nearing the end of a remarkable run with Milwaukee that saw him go 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA. But he needed one more gem. The Brewers and Mets were tied for the National League Wild Card entering the last day of the season.

Sabathia delivered, allowing only one run -- unearned -- in his seventh complete game in 17 regular-season starts for the Brewers. Ryan Braun snapped a 1-1 tie with a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning and Sabathia induced a game-ending double play from dangerous Derrek Lee in the ninth, then flexed in celebration while Miller Park went wild. After the Mets lost to the Marlins, the Brewers were postseason-bound for the first time in 26 years.

“It was his game, it was his two months, it was his year,” Brewers interim manager Dale Sveum said as champagne sprayed around him. “It was his game, and I was going to give him as much as he wanted. That’s just a special human being.”

2) Mike Caldwell -- Oct. 12, 1982, World Series Game 1, at Cardinals

Paul Molitor set a World Series record with five hits in the Brewers' 10-0 romp. Robin Yount had four hits. Brewers catcher Ted Simmons homered. But it wasn’t really a romp until late in the game; Milwaukee took a 2-0 lead into the fourth, then scored in three consecutive innings before adding four runs in the ninth. Caldwell, in the signature performance of a Brewers tenure that spanned more than 1,600 innings, never gave the Cardinals a chance to get in it. He went the distance for a complete-game shutout, scattering three hits and one walk while blanking St. Louis on only three strikeouts while inducing 14 groundouts.

3) Ben Sheets -- May 16, 2004, vs. Braves

Take context out of it and create a list of the best pure pitching performances in Brewers history, and this is easily at the top of the list. Sure, the shadows made it tough for hitters on this sunny Sunday at Miller Park, and the Braves were without an injured Chipper Jones. But Sheets was nevertheless masterful, setting a Milwaukee record with 18 strikeouts while holding Atlanta to one run on three hits and a walk during the 4-1 win. Eight of Sheets' final nine outs were strikeouts, and he finished the game by punching out five consecutive hitters. In all, Sheets threw 91 of his 116 pitches for strikes.

4) Sabathia -- Aug. 31, 2008, at Pittsburgh

Those who were at PNC Park that day still insist the Brewers were robbed of what would have been the second no-hitter in franchise history. Sabathia walked three and struck out 11 during Milwaukee’s 7-0 win while logging the sixth of his seven complete games in a Brewers uniform. But he was charged with one hit, a dribbler just off the mound that Sabathia bobbled while trying to make the play.

Yost fumed about the ruling for days. Media relations director Mike Vassallo formally appealed the decision in a letter to MLB, to no avail. Later, Sabathia signed a copy of the letter -- “Thanks for trying!! LOL,” he wrote -- and today it is framed on the wall in Vassallo’s home. The only one who didn’t seem upset was Sabathia. During the summer of his final Major League season, in an interview for the book "The Milwaukee Brewers at 50," he chalked it up as, “Just one of those things.”

“That play happened so early in the game that it wasn’t a no-hitter,” Sabathia said. “If it had happened later in the game and I was pitching to get a no-hitter, maybe it would have been different. But it was so early. That whole run with the Brewers was so fun, anyway. So, it doesn’t matter.”

5) Juan Nieves -- April 15, 1987, at Baltimore

How does the only no-hitter in the Brewers’ first 52 seasons as a franchise rank as the fifth-best pitching performance? Because Nieves wasn’t particularly sharp on a dreary night at Memorial Stadium, where he walked five batters and threw 128 pitches. But he struck out seven and didn’t allow a hit thanks to left fielder Jim Paciorek’s acrobatic catch in the second inning and a game-ending, diving catch from the center fielder Yount in the ninth. Milwaukee won the game, 7-0, and improved to 9-0 on the way to tying the Major League record with 13 consecutive victories to begin the 1987 season. Nieves was the first Puerto Rican pitcher in Major League history to throw a no-hitter, and the only one until the San Francisco Giants’ Jonathan Sánchez completed his own in 2009.

Other contenders
Yovani Gallardo -- Oct. 1, 2011 NLDS Game 1, vs. D-backs
After the Brewers bowed out of the postseason quickly in 2008, Gallardo helped ensure their return got off to a better start. He held Arizona to one run on four hits over eight innings, with one walk and nine strikeouts during a 4-1 victory to open what would prove a thrilling best-of-five series.

Teddy Higuera -- Aug. 26, 1987, vs. Cleveland
In a 10-inning, 1-0 win over Cleveland at County Stadium that is best remembered as the end of Paul Molitor’s 39-game hitting streak, Higuera worked overtime for a shutout that began a franchise-record streak of 32 consecutive scoreless innings. He pitched all 10 innings, allowing three hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts before Rick Manning delivered a pinch-hit, walk-off single with Molitor on-deck.

Jim Colburn -- Sept. 27, 1974, at Baltimore
Talk about overtime. Colborn put up zeros for 13 innings against the Orioles in a game that remained scoreless until the bottom of the 17th, when Baltimore won, 1-0, on a fielder’s choice. Colburn’s 13-inning outing remains a franchise record.

Steve Woodard -- July 28, 1997, vs. Blue Jays
Making his Major League debut opposite Toronto ace Roger Clemens, Woodard struck out 12 batters and allowed only one hit during eight scoreless innings of a 1-0 Brewers win in Game 1 of a doubleheader. Woodard tied the American League record for strikeouts by a pitcher making his MLB debut.

Sheets -- June 8, 2004, at Anaheim
In the closest thing to a perfect game by a Brewers pitcher, Sheets worked nine scoreless innings and allowed only one hit, a Vladimir Guerrero single through the hole at shortstop on a pitch in the dirt. The game was scoreless until the 17th inning, when Craig Counsell finally scored on Scott Podsednik’s double for a 1-0 Milwaukee win.

Bill Wegman -- July 7, 1986, vs. Angels
Wegman pitched 11 scoreless innings and scattered four hits, but he didn’t get any support in a game that remained scoreless until the 16th inning. The Angels won, 3-1.

Marty Pattin -- April 29, 1969, vs. Angels
The Seattle Pilots didn’t exactly fill the highlight reel in their only season of play, but Pattin delivered a gem when he allowed two hits and struck out 11 while pitching all nine innings of a 1-0 win.

Freddy Peralta -- May 13, 2018, vs. Rockies
Making his Major League debut on Mother’s Day with his mom in the stands at Coors Field -- watching him pitch professionally for the first time -- Peralta took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and set a Brewers rookie record with 13 strikeouts.

Josh Hader -- April 30, 2018, at Reds
A bullpen entry. Throwing fastball after fastball, Hader delivered a relief performance like had never been seen before in MLB, recording all eight of his outs via strikeouts during a 6-5 Brewers win at Great American Ball Park.

Jim Slaton -- Aug. 16, 1983, vs. Red Sox
Slaton didn’t start for the Brewers that day, but he pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings of relief on three hits before Ted Simmons’ sacrifice fly in the 14th inning gave Milwaukee a 4-3 win.