Photo: Under construction- scale model of Jacob’s Field
June 3, 2014Browns OTA injury update
June 3, 2014In the fourth inning of Monday night’s win over the Boston Red Sox, Tribe hurler Justin Masterson decided that the best course of action would be to strike out the side—on nine pitches.
Jonny Gomes, Grady Sizemore and Stephen Drew. All three men attempted. Some swings even made contact. It would all be for naught.
Check it out here:
This feat is apparently called an “immaculate inning.” Nine pitches, nine strikes, three outs. The sliders Masterson threw were borderline unfair. The one that Sizemore took a cut at—just like old times—was careening toward his feet. Interestingly enough, this is already the third immaculate inning that has been pitched in the majors this year. Cole Hamels did it in the third inning of a game against the Reds on May 17, and Rays reliever Brad Boxberger did in in the sixth inning against the Royals on May 8.
Including the fourth inning, there was a stretch where Masterson tossed 25 consecutive strikes. While it was a lot cooler before finding out that others have done it within the last few months, it was still an incredible accomplishment from a pitcher who was much in need of an outing like the one he had.
2 Comments
I was curious if Masterson’s 25 straight strikes were a record or even close. Looks like not only is it not close, but there is no complete answer about the true record.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/bartolo-colon-throws-38-straight-strikes-most-since-154441200.html
due to site craziness lately, just noticing this now. great that you have it logged and in all it’s glory here. believe this is the first immaculate inning I have seen in MLB.