John Smoltz is one of the best pitchers of all time. His longevity saw him play for three different teams in 21 years, but primarily for the Atlanta Braves from 1998-2008. Smoltz recently joined the Flippin' Bats Podcast and talked about some of the best pitching performances that he has ever witnessed.

The first game he mentioned was Randy Johnson's perfect game against the Braves in 2004.

“It wasn't even fair,” Smoltz said. “There wasn't even a chance we were going to get a hit.”

Smoltz followed up by witnessing his teammate Greg Maddux throw a complete game on 78 pitches.

“I have to put that up there as one of the best games ever in that era we pitched.”

The third game he mentioned was a very recent one. One that probably brought up the conversation. Arkansas starter and future MLB player Gage Wood threw a no-hitter against Murray State in the College World Series.

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“That is impressive,” Smoltz said. “At the college level, 19 strikeouts in the College World Series, I don't think it gets better than that.”

The Hall of Fame pitcher was then asked about his best pitcing performance. Funny enough, out of all of his good ones, he chose a game where he lost. He had 16 strikeouts in the 8th inning against the New York Mets, and allowed a 2-run home run to Carlos Beltran while upm 1-0.

“I still shake my head,” he said. “A lot of my best games come in tough losses, and that is just the way it goes.”

Smoltz compared that game to another recent one. Atlanta Braves starter Grant Holmes struck out 15 batters in a loss to the Colorado Rockies on June 15.

The Braves take on the Miami Marlins this weekend for a three-game series. They try and continue to climb up the NL East standings.