Once again, it’s time for Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday. I hope you are enjoying this weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances and statistical coincidences.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that grabbed my attention. I’m also drawn to baseball “unicorns,” those one-of-a-kind accomplishments or statistics.
This week, we’re looking at a one-of-a-kind event that I reported (in a monthly Wrap Up) when it happened – and which, after some reflection, I believe has to be among the mostly likely to retain its unicorn status over the very long haul. This Tuesday’s Tidbit relates to “Immaculate Innings” – three up, three down, three strikeouts, nine pitches).
Now, these days, Immaculate Innings are not all that improbable – after all, there have been more than 100 such feats, 18 since 2020 alone. However, on June 15, 2022, MLB was treated to an “Immaculate” occurrence that is likely to remain “Divine” for quite some time.
Consider:
- On that day, as the Astros topped the Rangers 9-2 in Texas, the fans witnessed two “Immaculate Innings” in one game – an MLB first, and still only, occurrence.
But wait, maybe you could imagine that happening again. However:
- The two Immaculate Innings were delivered by pitchers on the same team, raising the improbability factor even higher.
But there’s more:
- The same three batters were the victims in both Immaculate frames – putting us into very long-term unicorn status.
In that game, Astros’ pitchers Luis Garcia and Phil Maton pitched their way into the “Immaculate Innings” club. It was, as noted, the first-ever MLB game in which two pitchers each tossed an Immaculate Inning and, of course, also made them the first and (currently) only teammates to toss an Immaculate Inning in the same game.
Garcia tossed his nine-pitch, three-whiff frame in the bottom of the second, while Maton achieved the feat in the bottom of the seventh. The six strikeouts were among 14 recorded by four Astros’ pitchers. The victims in both Immaculate frames were Rangers’ 1B Nathaniel Lowe, 2B Ezequiel Duran and 3B Brad Miller (the 6-7-8 hitters) – making them, of course, the first and currently only three players to be victims in two Immaculate frames in the same game. Side Note: Rangers’ CF Leody Taveras led off the bottom of the third by fanning on three pitches from Garcia, giving Garcia four consecutive strikeouts on a total of 12 pitches.
Garcia finished the season at 15-8, 3.72 (28 starts) – with 157 whiffs in 157 1/3 innings pitched. Maton was 0-2, 3.84 in 67 appearances – with 73 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings.
Lowe finished at .302-27-76 (147 strikeouts in 157 games); Duran at .236-5-25 (54 strikeouts in 58 games); and Miller at .212-7-32 (70 strikeouts in 81 games).
Primary Resources: Stathead.com; Baseball-Almanac.com.
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