Pitchers who struck out three batters on nine pitches

Key

List

Notable achievers

• 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. Grove is the only pitcher whose team won both games. All three are members of the Hall of Fame
  National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
  The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
  
  .

• Two of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat have done so in their rookie seasons: Thurston and Ashby.

• Only Pérez accomplished it in his first MLB win
  Win (baseball)
  In professional baseball, there are two types of decisions: a win and a loss . In each game, one pitcher on the winning team is awarded a win and one pitcher on the losing team is given a loss in their respective statistics. These pitchers are collectively known as the pitchers of record. Only...
  
  .

• Four of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat are members of the 3000 strikeout club
  3000 strikeout club
  In Major League Baseball , the 3,000 strikeout club is a term applied to the group of pitchers who have struck out 3,000 or more batters in their careers. Walter Johnson was the first to reach 3,000, doing so in 1923, and was the only pitcher at this milestone for 50 years until Bob Gibson recorded...
  
  : Johnson, Ryan, Gibson, and Martinez.

• Four of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat have also thrown perfect game
  Perfect game
  A perfect game is defined by Major League Baseball as a game in which a pitcher pitches a victory that lasts a minimum of nine innings and in which no opposing player reaches base. Thus, the pitcher cannot allow any hits, walks, hit batsmen, or any opposing player to reach base safely for any...
  
  s (though not in the same game): Koufax, Bunning, Cone and Johnson.

• Guidry's and Wilson's immaculate innings are the only two to come in the ninth inning of a complete game. Both were shutout victories.

• Nine of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat have been elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame
  National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
  The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
  
  : Clarkson, Waddell, Vance, Grove, Bunning, Koufax, Ryan, Gibson, and Sutter.

• Grove, Ryan and Johnson are the only pitchers with 300 career wins
  300 win club
  In Major League Baseball, the 300 win club refers to the group of pitchers—24 as of 2011—who have won 300 or more games. While the "300 club" is an informal group, becoming a member is among the highest accomplishments a starting pitcher can achieve. Several members retired soon after winning their...
  
   to have accomplished the feat.

Records

• The 24-year-and-345-day gap between Grove's half-inning and Hoeft's half-inning is the longest span without a pitcher achieving the feat; the one-day gap between Koufax's 2nd 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
  José Vizcaíno
  José Luis Vizcaíno Pimental is a former Major League Baseball player. He was a backup infielder for most of his MLB career. In , he played a significant role with the Chicago Cubs, having 551 at-bats and being 9th in the National League with 131 singles as well as second in the NL with 9 sacrifice...
  
  , Khalil Greene
  Khalil Greene
  Khalil Thabit Greene is a Major League Baseball shortstop who is currently a free agent. He bats and throws right-handed.-High school and college:...
  
  , Carlton Fisk
  Carlton Fisk
  Carlton Ernest Fisk , nicknamed "Pudge" or "The Commander", is a former Major League Baseball catcher. During a 24-year baseball career, he played for both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox .Fisk was known by the nickname "Pudge" due to his 6'2", 220 lb frame...
  
  , Jeff Reed, Julio Lugo
  Julio Lugo
  Julio Cesar Lugo is a Dominican professional baseball infielder but is currently a free agent. He bats and throws right-handed. Lugo is the older brother of baseball pitcher Ruddy Lugo....
  
   and Greg Luzinski are the only men recorded to have been victims twice. Fisk's and Luzinski's second strikeouts came in the same half-inning as did Vizcaíno's and Lugo's first.

• Three franchises have seen their pitchers accomplish the feat four times, more than any of the others: The Houston Astros, with Bruce, Harnisch, Magnante, and Backe, the Dodgers—in Brooklyn and LA—with Ragan, Vance, and Koufax twice, and the Athletics, in Philadelphia and Oakland, with Waddell, Grove twice, and Harden. The Yankees, Braves and Cubs have each seen the feat performed three times.

• As of July 8, 2011, the feat has been accomplished twenty-nine times in the National League, thirteen times in the American League, and four times in interleague play
  Interleague play
  Interleague play is the term used to describe regular season Major League Baseball games played between teams in different leagues, introduced in . Before the 1997 season, teams in the American League and National League did not meet during the regular season...
  
  .

• Philadelphia's National League team has been a victim of an immaculate inning a record five times; once as the Quakers and four times as the Phillies.

• As of the 2010 season, only five pitchers have struck out the side on nine pitches in the final inning to end the game and record a save (Bunning, Sutter, Rojas, Isringhausen, and Soriano).

• 1967-68-69 was the first time it happened three years in a row. 1991 was the first time it happened three times in one year, and in 2002 it happened four times. As of 2011, it has happened every year for six years in a row, the only time it has happened for more than four consecutive years.

Sources

• Retrosheet
• Baseball Almanac
• Baseball Digest