Complete games are a rarity in 2021. Through Wednesday, MLB pitchers had combined for only 21 of them.

So it¡¯s notable any time a pitcher accomplishes that feat, but doing so while throwing only 62 pitches? Now that¡¯s really unusual.

That¡¯s what the Rockies¡¯ Germ¨¢n M¨¢rquez managed to do on Thursday at Citi Field, but don¡¯t expect the right-hander to be too excited about it. After all, he took a tough-luck 1-0 loss against the Mets while allowing one earned run on three hits with six strikeouts.

How is a 62-pitch complete game even possible? In this case, it came in the first game of a seven-inning doubleheader, and because the Rockies trailed as the road team, the game ended before M¨¢rquez could pitch the bottom of the seventh. Still, he gets credited with an official complete game. (Unlike with no-hitters, complete games do not have to be at least nine innings.)

MLB had not seen a pitcher throw a complete game with 62 or fewer pitches since Sept. 29, 2016, when the Pirates¡¯ Ivan Nova did it while throwing 5 1/3 innings in a contest that was delayed by rain and then suspended with the teams knotted at 1. Because there wasn¡¯t time to complete the game, which didn¡¯t affect the standings, it ended up a tie.

M¨¢rquez also set a Rockies record for the fewest pitches in a complete game, passing Aaron Cook, who used a mere 74 pitches in a win over the Padres at Coors Field on July 25, 2007. Incredibly, Cook did that in a full nine-inning game. He then threw a 79-pitch, nine-inning shutout against the Padres at the same ballpark on July 1, 2008. No pitcher since then has thrown a nine-inning complete game with fewer than 80 pitches.