Michael Kopech made MLB history on Wednesday, throwing an immaculate inning against the Twins in the ninth to seal a 3-1 victory for the White Sox.
"I was telling guys in there, I'm trying not to lie about it but I was thinking about it from pitch four," Kopech said of the immaculate inning after the game. "As soon as I realized there were no balls on the board I wanted to finish that feat off. It feels good, but I would've never thought about it again if I threw a ball in there at some point. Glad to have a clean inning and get the win."
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Kopech struck out Brooks Lee on a third strike looking at a 100-mile-per-hour fastball after he fouled off the first two pitches. Against Matt Wallner, he got him swinging on another 100-mile-per-hour fastball after fouling off and swinging at two prior fastballs. Finally, against Max Kepler, Kopech got him swinging on (guess what) another 100-mile-per-hour fastball after burning two cutters by him.
Kopech's immaculate inning marks the first in MLB this season. It's just the second immaculate inning in White Sox history. No White Sox pitcher has achieved the feat in over 100 years. Hollis "Sloppy" Thurston was the last White Sox player to throw one on Aug. 22, 1923.
The White Sox were last involved in an immaculate inning on Apr. 14, 1998, when Jimmy Key of the Orioles impressively mowed down Robin Ventura, Magglio Ordonez and Ray Durham.
Before Kopech, the last immaculate inning recorded in MLB was Johan Oviedo's on May 24, 2023. He struck out Josh Smith, Robbie Grossman and Jonah Heim in nine strikes in the fourth inning of that game.
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But Kopech holds the crown for the most recent to achieve the incredible feat.
"That's what he's capable of doing," Pedro Grifol said after the game. "We're not going to give up on that ever. Ever. We're not going to give up on that. That's the talent that he's got. And that's what he can bring to the table."