Reds’ Drew Storen throws ‘immaculate inning’ against Orioles

Nine pitches, three batters, three strikeouts. Drew Storen made a little history for the Cincinnati Reds by pitching an ‘immaculate inning.’

Tuesday was a good night for the Cincinnati Reds.

The team blew out the Baltimore Orioles to hold on to first place in the National League Central. They did so while hitting a grand slam and somehow getting a win out of 40-year-old Bronson Arroyo (his first victory in three years).

As a cherry on top, the Reds ended the game with an immaculate inning from veteran reliever Drew Storen.

“An immaculate inning,” for the uninitiated, is when a pitcher registers three strikeouts on nine pitches. Storen turned the trick against O’s hitters Jonathan Schoop, J.J. Hardy and Hyun Soo Kim.

Now the Orioles are not the most patient team on the planet, but it still was an impressive accomplishment by Storen. How impressive?

• Storen is the first pitcher to notch an immaculate inning since July 4 of last year when the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Juan Nicasio did it against the St. Louis Cardinals.
• He is just the fourth Reds pitcher ever to do it. The last was Carlos Contreras in 2014.
• He joins a list of 76 pitchers known to have thrown such an inning, including Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and Lefty Grove. It must be noted, however, that pitch-by-pitch records are not available for all of MLB history, so there likely are more than 77 pitchers who have done it.

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The Reds had been concerned with Storen’s decreased velocity this spring, so the team must be happy that he threw three pitches in excess of 91 mph in dispatching the baffled Bird batters.

In his first season with the Reds, the veteran righty is 1-0 with one save and 1.23 ERA in seven games.