Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Ryan Pepiot made some incredible history during Wednesday’s game against the Boston Red Sox.
In the fifth inning, Pepiot threw an immaculate inning, striking out Connor Wong, Wilyer Abreu and Triston Casas.
An immaculate inning is when a pitcher records three strikeouts while only throwing nine pitches, all of which being strikes.
Five of Pepiot’s nine pitches were swinging strikes, two were called strikes and two were fouls.
Pepiot’s immaculate inning was just the fourth in Rays history, the last coming when Jose Alvarado accomplished the feat in 2017. It was also only the 117th immaculate inning in Major League history, making it more rare than a no-hitter or a cycle. It was also just the second immaculate inning this season, the only other instance occurring on July 10 when Chicago White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech, struck out three Minnesota Twins hitters.
Pepiot’s immaculate inning was part of a great overall performance for the 27-year-old right-hander. He threw six innings of two-hit ball while striking out 12, with his only real blemish coming in the sixth inning when he allowed a solo home run to Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story.
Unfortunately for the Rays, they were unable to take advantage of Pepiot’s historic fifth inning, losing 2-1 to the Red Sox.
