Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer had an immaculate inning on Tuesday, striking out the side against the Tampa Bay Rays in only nine pitches. It was the second such inning of his career.
Max Scherzer, Immaculate Inning. 👑 pic.twitter.com/RWnFGaNzUj
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 6, 2018
In doing so, Scherzer joined an exclusive list.
It was the second such inning of his career. Over the last 30 years, only one other man — Randy Johnson — has done that twice.
Max Scherzer of the @Nationals struck out the side on 9 pitches in the 6th inning, his second career immaculate inning.
The only other pitcher with 2 immaculate innings in the pitch count era (last 30 years): Randy Johnson.#OnePursuit
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) June 6, 2018
That’s great company to keep. But at this point of Scherzer’s career, that’s no surprise.
Scherzer has three Cy Young Awards. Only Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Steve Carlton, and Greg Maddux have more, while Clayton Kershaw, Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, Pedro Martinez, and Sandy Koufax, are the only others to have has many.
Scherzer is also in a group with Clemens, Johnson, Martinez, Gaylord Perry, and Roy Halladay as the only pitchers to have won a Cy Young Award in each league.
So, it’s only fitting that he and another legend stand alone on this list.