An immaculate inning occurs in
baseball when a
pitcherstrikes out all three
batters he faces in one inning using the minimum possible number of pitches: nine.[1] This has happened 114 times in Major League history and has been accomplished by 104 pitchers (79 right-handed and 25 left-handed).
Six pitchers have accomplished the feat more than once, including
Hall-of-FamersLefty Grove,
Sandy Koufax, and
Nolan Ryan, and active pitchers
Chris Sale,
Max Scherzer, and
Kevin Gausman. Koufax, Sale, and Scherzer are the only pitchers to achieve an immaculate inning three times. Koufax accomplished his first immaculate inning while throwing his first no-hitter, becoming the only player to do both in a single game.[4][5][6][7]
Danny Jackson is the sole player to pitch an immaculate inning in the
World Series:[14] the seventh inning of Game 5 of the
1985 World Series; it is also the only immaculate inning thrown in a postseason game. Jackson pitched a
complete game, winning 6–1 and staving off elimination for the
Kansas City Royals, who eventually won the series in seven games.
While an immaculate inning typically occurs with the bases empty, a nine-pitch, three-strikeout performance can also be accomplished by a
relief pitcher who enters the game with one or more runners on base. On May 8, 2014,
Brad Boxberger of the
Tampa Bay Rays entered a game against the
Baltimore Orioles with the
bases loaded and proceeded to strike out the side with nine pitches.[15] No player has ever
struck out four batters on 12 pitches in an inning, with one of those batters reaching base on an
uncaught third strike.
No pitcher has thrown more than one immaculate inning in a game.
Jesús Sánchez of the
Florida Marlins came within one pitch of that feat on September 13, 1998. Facing the
Atlanta Braves, Sánchez struck out the side in the bottom of the second inning on 10 pitches and threw an immaculate inning in the bottom of the third inning:[16] six consecutive strikeouts on 19 pitches.[16] Just one game has seen two pitchers throw immaculate innings: on June 15, 2022,
Phil Maton and
Luis Garcia of the
Houston Astros struck out the same three
Texas Rangers batters in the second and seventh innings respectively.[17]
Frequency by decade
The frequency of immaculate innings has varied widely throughout baseball history. There were only 30 immaculate innings in the 114 Major League seasons from 1876 to 1988, but the next 30 occurred in the 21 seasons from 1989 to 2009. The pace has since picked up even more, with 43 immaculate innings in the 12 seasons from 2010 to 2021.
Decade
Immaculate innings
Number
Cumulative
1880s
1
1
1890s
0
1
1900s
1
2
1910s
1
3
1920s
5
8
1930s
0
8
1940s
0
8
1950s
3
11
1960s
8
19
1970s
8
27
1980s
4
31
1990s
15
46
2000s
14
60
2010s
37
97
2020s
15
112
Players
Key
Pitcher (X)
Name of the pitcher (number of immaculate innings they had pitched at that point, if more than one)
Date
Date of the game
Team
The pitcher's team at the time of the game
Opposing team
The team against whom the pitcher struck out three batters on nine pitches
Inning
The inning in which the pitcher struck out three batters on nine pitches
Batters faced (X)
The batters who were struck out (number of immaculate innings they had struck out in at that point, if more than one)
^A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or has not played professionally for a full season.
^The game play-by-play[20] and contemporary newspaper report[21] for the game of August 23, 1928, show that Lefty Grove first allowed a single to
Homer Summa in the second inning before striking out the next three batters (Morgan, Harvel, Autry) on nine consecutive pitches; this is inconsistent with the present-day usage of "immaculate inning" where only three batters are faced (each being struck out on three pitches) in the half-inning.
An immaculate inning occurs in
baseball when a
pitcherstrikes out all three
batters he faces in one inning using the minimum possible number of pitches: nine.[1] This has happened 114 times in Major League history and has been accomplished by 104 pitchers (79 right-handed and 25 left-handed).
Six pitchers have accomplished the feat more than once, including
Hall-of-FamersLefty Grove,
Sandy Koufax, and
Nolan Ryan, and active pitchers
Chris Sale,
Max Scherzer, and
Kevin Gausman. Koufax, Sale, and Scherzer are the only pitchers to achieve an immaculate inning three times. Koufax accomplished his first immaculate inning while throwing his first no-hitter, becoming the only player to do both in a single game.[4][5][6][7]
Danny Jackson is the sole player to pitch an immaculate inning in the
World Series:[14] the seventh inning of Game 5 of the
1985 World Series; it is also the only immaculate inning thrown in a postseason game. Jackson pitched a
complete game, winning 6–1 and staving off elimination for the
Kansas City Royals, who eventually won the series in seven games.
While an immaculate inning typically occurs with the bases empty, a nine-pitch, three-strikeout performance can also be accomplished by a
relief pitcher who enters the game with one or more runners on base. On May 8, 2014,
Brad Boxberger of the
Tampa Bay Rays entered a game against the
Baltimore Orioles with the
bases loaded and proceeded to strike out the side with nine pitches.[15] No player has ever
struck out four batters on 12 pitches in an inning, with one of those batters reaching base on an
uncaught third strike.
No pitcher has thrown more than one immaculate inning in a game.
Jesús Sánchez of the
Florida Marlins came within one pitch of that feat on September 13, 1998. Facing the
Atlanta Braves, Sánchez struck out the side in the bottom of the second inning on 10 pitches and threw an immaculate inning in the bottom of the third inning:[16] six consecutive strikeouts on 19 pitches.[16] Just one game has seen two pitchers throw immaculate innings: on June 15, 2022,
Phil Maton and
Luis Garcia of the
Houston Astros struck out the same three
Texas Rangers batters in the second and seventh innings respectively.[17]
Frequency by decade
The frequency of immaculate innings has varied widely throughout baseball history. There were only 30 immaculate innings in the 114 Major League seasons from 1876 to 1988, but the next 30 occurred in the 21 seasons from 1989 to 2009. The pace has since picked up even more, with 43 immaculate innings in the 12 seasons from 2010 to 2021.
Decade
Immaculate innings
Number
Cumulative
1880s
1
1
1890s
0
1
1900s
1
2
1910s
1
3
1920s
5
8
1930s
0
8
1940s
0
8
1950s
3
11
1960s
8
19
1970s
8
27
1980s
4
31
1990s
15
46
2000s
14
60
2010s
37
97
2020s
15
112
Players
Key
Pitcher (X)
Name of the pitcher (number of immaculate innings they had pitched at that point, if more than one)
Date
Date of the game
Team
The pitcher's team at the time of the game
Opposing team
The team against whom the pitcher struck out three batters on nine pitches
Inning
The inning in which the pitcher struck out three batters on nine pitches
Batters faced (X)
The batters who were struck out (number of immaculate innings they had struck out in at that point, if more than one)
^A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or has not played professionally for a full season.
^The game play-by-play[20] and contemporary newspaper report[21] for the game of August 23, 1928, show that Lefty Grove first allowed a single to
Homer Summa in the second inning before striking out the next three batters (Morgan, Harvel, Autry) on nine consecutive pitches; this is inconsistent with the present-day usage of "immaculate inning" where only three batters are faced (each being struck out on three pitches) in the half-inning.