Ryan Pepiot throws fourth immaculate inning in Rays history

Ryan Pepiot was immaculate for the Tampa Bay Ray on Wednesday.

The right-hander threw the fourth immaculate inning in Rays history on Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox, striking out Connor Wong, Wilyer Abreu and Triston Casas in the fifth inning. An immaculate inning is when a pitcher strikes out all three batters on nine pitches total.

With only 117 in MLB history, an immaculate inning is more rare than a no-hitter or a cycle, even though it happens so quickly that fans might not realize what just happened. Michael Kopech threw the only other one in MLB this season for the Chicago White Sox in July.

MLB has had multiple immaculate innings in every full season since 2016. The last season without one at all was 2005, a sign of the growing emphasis on strikeouts in today’s game.

In Pepiot’s case, he pumped three straight four-seam fastballs against both Wong and Abreu, before throwing a pair of changeups to Casas. Five of his nine pitches were swinging strikes, two were called strikes and two were fouls.

He wasn’t so lucky in his next inning, though, as Trevor Story hit the first pitch of the sixth inning into the left field stands to tie the game 1-1.

Pepiot is finishing up his first season with the Rays after arriving over the offseason via the Tyler Glasnow trade. Even without the immaculate inning, 2024 was shaping up to be a solid campaign for the 27-year-old, and a continuation of the Rays’ tradition of landing solid returns in exchange for more expensive stars.