Pitchers who struck out three batters on nine pitches
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In Major League Baseball, 37 pitchers have thrown a nine-pitch, three-strikeout half-inning, also known as an immaculate inning, literally throwing nothing but strikes, a total of 40 times.
| Player | Date | Team | Inning | Score | Opponent | Batters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Clarkson | June 4, 1889 | Boston Beaneaters (NL) | third | 4-2 W | Philadelphia Quakers | |
| Rube Waddell | July 1, 1902 | Philadelphia Athletics (AL) | third | 2-0 W | Baltimore Orioles | |
| Pat Ragan | October 5, 1914 | Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) | eighth | 15-2 L | Boston Braves | |
| Hod Eller | August 21, 1917 | Cincinnati Reds (NL) | ninth | 7-5 W | New York Giants | |
| Joe Oeschger | September 8, 1921 | Boston Braves (NL) | fourth | 8-6 L | Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Sloppy Thurston | August 22, 1923 | Chicago White Sox (AL) | twelfth | 3-2 L (12) | Philadelphia Athletics | |
| Dazzy Vance | September 24, 1924 | Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) | second | 6-5 W | Chicago Cubs | |
| Lefty Grove | August 23, 1928 | Philadelphia Athletics (AL) | second | 3-1 W | Cleveland Indians | |
| Lefty Grove (2) | September 27, 1928 | Philadelphia Athletics (AL) | seventh | 5-3 W | Chicago White Sox | |
| 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 | |
| Sandy Koufax | June 30, 1962 | Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) | first | 5-0 W | New York Mets | |
| Sandy Koufax (2) | April 18, 1964 | Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) | third | 3-0 L | Cincinnati Reds | |
| Bob Bruce | April 19, 1964 | Houston Colt .45s (NL) | eighth | 6-2 W | Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Al Downing | August 11, 1967 | New York Yankees (AL) | second | 5-3 W | Cleveland Indians | |
| Nolan Ryan | April 19, 1968 | New York Mets (NL) | third | 2-1 W | St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Bob Gibson | May 12, 1969 | St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | seventh | 6-2 W | Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Milt Pappas | September 24, 1971 | Chicago Cubs (NL) | fourth | 6-5 L | Montreal Expos | |
| Nolan Ryan (2) | July 9, 1972 | California Angels (AL) | second | 3-0 W | Boston Red Sox | |
| Lynn McGlothen | August 19, 1975 | St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | second | 2-1 W | Cincinnati Reds | |
| 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 | 6-3 L | Chicago White Sox | |
| Jeff Robinson | September 7, 1987 | Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) | eighth | 3-2 W | Chicago Cubs | |
| Rob Dibble | June 4, 1989 | Cincinnati Reds (NL) | eighth | 5-3 W | San Diego Padres | |
| Jeff Montgomery | April 29, 1990 | Kansas City Royals (AL) | eighth | 5-2 W | Texas Rangers | |
| Andy Ashby | June 15, 1991 | Philadelphia Phillies (NL) | fourth | 3-1 L | Cincinnati Reds | |
| David Cone | August 30, 1991 | New York Mets (NL) | fifth | 3-2 W | Cincinnati Reds | |
| Pete Harnisch | September 6, 1991 | Houston Astros (NL) | seventh | 3-1 W | Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Trevor Wilson | June 2, 1992 | San Francisco Giants (NL) | ninth | 5-2 W | St. Louis Cardinals | |
| 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 | 6-3 W | Cincinnati Reds | 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 Ruben Sierra |
| Brian Lawrence | June 12, 2002 | San Diego Padres (NL) | third | 2-0 W | Baltimore Orioles | 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 Alex Gonzalez |
| Rick Helling | June 20, 2006 | Milwaukee Brewers (NL) | first | 10-1 L | Detroit Tigers | Curtis Granderson Placido Polanco Ivan Rodriguez |
[edit] Trivia
- The feat has been accomplished in every regulation inning: three times in the 1st, five times in the 2nd, six times in the 3rd, three times in the 4th, once in the 5th (Cone), once in the 6th (Johnson), four times in the 7th, seven times in the 8th, nine 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.
- 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, Seaver, and Gibson.
- 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: Koufax, Bunning, Cone, and Johnson; each threw his perfect game after having struck out the side on nine pitches. Martínez deserves honorable mention for having retired the first 27 batters in a June 3, 1995 game against the San Diego Padres that went into extra frames; he lost the perfecto to batter #28, Bip Roberts, in the tenth inning.
- 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 Bunning'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 has been a victim of two separate pitchers who have achieved the feat: Sheets and Isringhausen
- As of the end of the 2006 season, the feat has been accomplished twenty-nine times in the National League, and eleven times in the American league.
