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In Major League Baseball, 38 pitchers have thrown a nine-pitch, three-strikeout half-inning, literally throwing nothing but strikes, a total of 41 times. This feat is also known as an immaculate inning.[1]

Player Date Team Inning Score Opponent Batters Faced
John Clarkson June 4, 1889 Boston Beaneaters (NL) third 4-2 W Philadelphia Quakers Jim Fogarty
Sam Thompson
Sid Farrar
Rube Waddell July 1, 1902 Philadelphia Athletics (AL) third 2-0 W Baltimore Orioles Billy Gilbert
Harry Howell
John Cronin
Pat Ragan October 5, 1914 Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) eighth 15-2 L Boston Braves Possum Whitted
Butch Schmidt
Red Smith
Joe Oeschger September 8, 1921 Boston Braves (NL) fourth 8-6 L Philadelphia Phillies Bevo LeBourveau
Cy Williams
Ed Konetchy
Sloppy Thurston August 22, 1923 Chicago White Sox (AL) twelfth 3-2 L (13) Philadelphia Athletics Beauty McGowan
Chick Galloway
Sammy Hale
Dazzy Vance September 24, 1924 Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) second 6-5 W Chicago Cubs Sam Bohne
Bubbles Hargrave
Eppa Rixey
Lefty Grove August 23, 1928 Philadelphia Athletics (AL) second 3-1 W Cleveland Indians Eddie Morgan
Luther Harvel
Martin Autry
Lefty Grove (2) September 27, 1928 Philadelphia Athletics (AL) seventh 5-3 W Chicago White Sox Moe Berg
Tommy Thomas
Johnny Mostil
Billy Hoeft September 7, 1953 Detroit Tigers (AL) seventh 6-2 W Chicago White Sox
Jim Bunning August 2, 1959 Detroit Tigers (AL) ninth 5-4 L Boston Red Sox Sammy White
Jim Mahoney
Ike Delock
Sandy Koufax June 30, 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) first 5-0 W New York Mets Richie Ashburn
Rod Kanehl
Felix Mantilla
Sandy Koufax (2) April 18, 1964 Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) third 3-0 L Cincinnati Reds Leo Cardenas
Johnny Edwards
Jim Maloney
Bob Bruce April 19, 1964 Houston Colt .45s (NL) eighth 6-1 L St Louis Cardinals Bill White
Charlie James
Ken Boyer
Al Downing August 11, 1967 New York Yankees (AL) second 5-3 W Cleveland Indians Tony Horton
Don Demeter
Duke Sims
Nolan Ryan April 19, 1968 New York Mets (NL) third 3-2 L Los Angeles Dodgers Claude Osteen
Wes Parker
Zoilo Versalles
Bob Gibson May 12, 1969 St. Louis Cardinals (NL) seventh 6-2 W Los Angeles Dodgers Len Gabrielson
Paul Popovich
John Miller
Milt Pappas September 24, 1971 Chicago Cubs (NL) fourth 6-5 L Philadelphia Phillies Greg Luzinski
Don Money
Mike Anderson
Nolan Ryan (2) July 9, 1972 California Angels (AL) second 3-0 W Boston Red Sox Carlton Fisk
Bob Burda
Juan Beniquez
Bruce Sutter September 8, 1977 Chicago Cubs (NL) ninth 3-2 W (10) Montreal Expos Ellis Valentine
Gary Carter
Larry Parrish
Ron Guidry August 7, 1984 New York Yankees (AL) ninth 7-0 W Chicago White Sox Carlton Fisk
Tom Paciorek
Greg Luzinski
Jeff Robinson September 7, 1987 Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) eighth 3-2 W Chicago Cubs Leon Durham
Andre Dawson
Rafael Palmeiro
Rob Dibble June 4, 1989 Cincinnati Reds (NL) eighth 5-3 W San Diego Padres Carmelo Martínez
Mark Parent
Garry Templeton
Jeff Montgomery April 29, 1990 Kansas City Royals (AL) eighth 5-2 W Texas Rangers Pete Incaviglia
Geno Petralli
Thad Bosley
Andy Ashby June 15, 1991 Philadelphia Phillies (NL) fourth 3-1 L Cincinnati Reds Hal Morris
Todd Benzinger
Jeff Reed
David Cone August 30, 1991 New York Mets (NL) fifth 3-2 W Cincinnati Reds Herm Winningham
Randy Myers
Mariano Duncan
Pete Harnisch September 6, 1991 Houston Astros (NL) seventh 3-1 W Philadelphia Phillies Wes Chamberlain
Dickie Thon
Jose De Jesus
Trevor Wilson June 7, 1992 San Francisco Giants (NL) ninth 3-0 W Houston Astros Jeff Bagwell
Eric Anthony
Rafael Ramirez
Mel Rojas May 11, 1994 Montreal Expos (NL) ninth 4-3 W New York Mets David Segui
Todd Hundley
Jeff McKnight
Mike Magnante August 22, 1997 Houston Astros (NL) ninth 9-1 W Colorado Rockies Ellis Burks
Harvey Pulliam
Jeff Reed
Randy Johnson August 23, 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks (NL) sixth 5-1 L Pittsburgh Pirates Tony McKnight
Gary Matthews, Jr.
Jack Wilson
Jason Isringhausen April 13, 2002 St. Louis Cardinals (NL) ninth 2-1 W Houston Astros Daryle Ward
José Vizcaíno
Julio Lugo
Byung-Hyun Kim May 11, 2002 Arizona Diamondbacks (NL) eighth 6-5 W (10) Philadelphia Phillies Scott Rolen
Mike Lieberthal
Pat Burrell
Pedro Martínez May 18, 2002 Boston Red Sox (AL) first 4-1 W Seattle Mariners Ichiro Suzuki
Mark McLemore
Rubén Sierra
Brian Lawrence June 12, 2002 San Diego Padres (NL) third 2-0 W Baltimore Orioles (AL) Brook Fordyce
Jerry Hairston, Jr.
Melvin Mora
Brandon Backe April 15, 2004 Houston Astros (NL) eighth 6-2 L Milwaukee Brewers Bill Hall
Scott Podsednik
Craig Counsell
Ben Sheets June 13, 2004 Milwaukee Brewers (NL) third 5-4 L Houston Astros Pete Munro
Craig Biggio
José Vizcaíno
LaTroy Hawkins September 11, 2004 Chicago Cubs (NL) ninth 5-2 W Florida Marlins Jeff Conine
Juan Encarnacion
Álex González
Rick Helling June 20, 2006 Milwaukee Brewers (NL) first 10-1 L Detroit Tigers (AL) Curtis Granderson
Plácido Polanco
Iván Rodríguez
Buddy Carlyle July 6, 2007 Atlanta Braves (NL) fourth 7-4 W San Diego Padres Khalil Greene
Russell Branyan
José Cruz, Jr.
Rich Harden June 8, 2008 Oakland Athletics (AL) first 7-3 W Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Maicer Izturis
Howie Kendrick
Garrett Anderson
Félix Hernández June 17, 2008 Seattle Mariners (AL) fourth 5-4 W Florida Marlins (NL) Jeremy Hermida
Jorge Cantu
Mike Jacobs

Trivia[]

Template:Trivia

  • The feat has been accomplished in every regulation inning: four times in the 1st, four times in the 2nd, six times in the 3rd, five times in the 4th, once in the 5th (Cone), once in the 6th (Johnson), four times in the 7th, seven times in the 8th, eight times in the 9th, and once in the 12th (Thurston).
  • Three pitchers have accomplished the feat twice: Grove, Koufax, and Ryan. Of them, Grove is the only pitcher ever to have achieved the feat twice in the same season, and Ryan is the only pitcher ever to have achieved the feat in both the National and American Leagues, as well as being the only right-handed pitcher to accomplish the feat twice. All three are members of the Hall of Fame.
  • Three of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat have done so in their rookie seasons: Eller, Thurston, and Ashby.
  • Four of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat are members of the 3000 strikeout club: Johnson, Ryan, Gibson, and Martinez.
  • Koufax's first nine-pitch/three strikeout inning came in the first inning of his first no-hitter.
  • Four of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat have also thrown perfect games (though not in the same game): Koufax, Bunning, Cone and Johnson.
  • Guidry's and Wilson's immaculate innings are the only two to come in the ninth inning of a complete game. Both were shutout victories.
  • Nine of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat have been elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame: Clarkson, Waddell, Vance, Grove, Bunning, Koufax, Ryan, Gibson, and Sutter.
  • Thurston is the only pitcher in Major League history to accomplish the feat in extra innings.
  • Grove and Ryan are the only pitchers with 300 career wins to have accomplished the feat.
  • The 24-year-and-345-day gap between Grove's half-inning and Hoeft's half-inning in the longest span without a pitcher achieving the feat; the one-day gap between Koufax's half-inning and Bruce's half-inning is the shortest span.
  • 1928 was the first year in which the feat was accomplished twice (both times by Grove); 1964 was the first year in which two pitchers accomplished the feat (Koufax and Bruce); 1991 was the first year in which three pitchers accomplished the feat (Ashby, Cone, and Harnisch); 2002 was the first year in which four pitchers accomplished the feat (Isringhausen, Kim, Martínez and Lawrence)
  • José Vizcaíno, Carlton Fisk, Jeff Reed and Greg Luzinski are the only men recorded to have been victims twice.
  • Three franchises have seen their pitchers accomplish the feat four times, more than any of the others: The Houston NL franchise, with Bruce, Harnisch, Magnante, and Backe, the Dodgers--in Brooklyn and LA--with Ragan, Vance, and Koufax twice, and the Athletics, with Waddell, Grove twice, and Harden. The Braves and Cubs have each seen the feat performed three times.
  • As of the 2008 season, the feat has been accomplished twenty-six times in the National League, twelve times in the American league, and three times in interleague play.

Sources[]

  1. Rodriguez, John. "Hernandez's immaculate inning highlights Marlins' loss", Florida Sun-Sentinel, 2008-06-18. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
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