Hall of Famer
Sandy Koufax struck out three batters on nine pitches in one inning twice during his career
In Major League Baseball, 43 pitchers have thrown a nine-pitch, three-strikeout half-inning,[1] throwing nothing but strikes (the feat has been performed a total of 46 times, with three pitchers having done it twice). This feat is commonly referred to as an immaculate inning.[2][3][4][5]
| Player |
Name of the player |
| Date |
Date the player struck out three batters on nine pitches |
| Team |
The player's team |
| Inning |
Inning the pitcher struck out three batters on nine pitches |
| Score |
Final score of the game |
| † |
Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame |
| * |
Player is active |
[edit] Notable achievers
- 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. Grove is the only pitcher whose team won both games. All three are members of the Hall of Fame.
- Two of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat have done so in their rookie seasons: Thurston and Ashby.
- Only Pérez accomplished it in his first MLB win.
- Four of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat are members of the 3000 strikeout club: Johnson, Ryan, Gibson, and Martinez.
- 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.
- Grove, Ryan and Johnson are the only pitchers with 300 career wins to have accomplished the feat.
[edit] Records
- The 24-year-and-345-day gap between Grove's half-inning and Hoeft's half-inning is the longest span without a pitcher achieving the feat; the one-day gap between Koufax's 2nd 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)
- Three franchises have seen their pitchers accomplish the feat four times, more than any of the others: The Houston Astros, with Bruce, Harnisch, Magnante, and Backe, the Dodgers—in Brooklyn and LA—with Ragan, Vance, and Koufax twice, and the Athletics, in Philadelphia and Oakland, with Waddell, Grove twice, and Harden. The Yankees, Braves and Cubs have each seen the feat performed three times.
- As of July 8, 2011, the feat has been accomplished twenty-nine times in the National League, thirteen times in the American League, and four times in interleague play.
- Philadelphia's National League team has been a victim of an immaculate inning a record five times; once as the Quakers and four times as the Phillies.
- As of the 2010 season, only five pitchers have struck out the side on nine pitches in the final inning to end the game and record a save (Bunning, Sutter, Rojas, Isringhausen, and Soriano).
- 1967-68-69 was the first time it happened three years in a row. 1991 was the first time it happened three times in one year, and in 2002 it happened four times. As of 2011, it has happened every year for six years in a row, the only time it has happened for more than four consecutive years.
[edit] Sources
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| Batting leaders |
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| Single-game records |
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