There have been two immaculate innings across baseball this year, and both were by Pirate pitchers in May.
After Colin Holderman put down the Rays on nine pitches earlier this month against the Rays, Johan Oviedo matched him in the fourth inning by striking out the side on nine pitches in the fourth inning of the Pirates' 3-2 loss to the Rangers at PNC Park Wednesday:
ANOTHER IMMACULATE INNING pic.twitter.com/QTchyXbyK1
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 24, 2023
"It definitely is amazing," Oviedo said. "I’ve been close like twice in my career. Thankfully it happened today. You kinda know but like last time, I tried not to think about it and this time it just happened."
Oviedo was hit hard in the first, allowing all three of the Rangers' runs, but he bounced back nicely to fall just an out short of a quality start. He struck out five on the afternoon.
Give a hand to Jason Delay too for helping make that possible by stealing a strike on a low 0-1 slider against Robbie Grossman to keep the chance at history going:
What's the old baseball-ism, that every no-hitter has a great defensive play? Well, maybe an immaculate inning just needs a good frame by the catcher.
The Pirates are the first National League team to pitch two immaculate innings in the same month since the data started being tracked by the Elias Sports Bureau in 2000, joining the 2022 Astros as the only clubs to ever do it.
"It’s crazy," Derek Shelton said. "Until this year, I think I only saw two of them ever. I think it just shows the quality of the stuff our guys have."
Since 2000, the other instances of a Pirate throwing an immaculate inning are Holderman on May 4, Juan Nicasio against the Cardinals on July 4, 2016 and Ross Ohlendorf against the Cardinals on Sept. 5, 2009. Prior to Elias' data, the only recorded instance for the Pirates was Jeff Robinson on Sept. 7, 1987 against the Cubs.
