Three Pitch Innings
This Kottke post about immaculate innings (where the pitcher strikes out all three batters with exactly 9 pitches) made me remember back to the 2001 American League Championship Series Game 4 between the Mariners and Yankees where Mariano Rivera threw a 3 pitch inning (one of the more amazing baseball feats I’ve seen). It was like every guy thought he could outsmart the cut fastball and none of the three got it out of the infield. I can’t find video, but here’s the box score which shows each batter had a 0-0 count when they made an out. After the game when they interviewed Rivera he just said something to the effect of, “well … three pitches is three pitches.”
If anyone can track down the video I’d really appreciate it. Oh, and here’s the full list of three pitch innings, apparently Rivera did it again in 2003 against the Cardinals.