Braves reliever Chris Martin had the adventure of a lifetime, tossing an immaculate inning — a 1-2-3 inning with three strikeouts on nine pitches — in the seventh inning of Wednesday night’s game against the Phillies. The right-hander was an army of one, fanning César Hernández, Jay Bruce, and Logan Morrison to send the game to the eighth.
Martin knows that everything’s not lost, as he entered the game with a 5.40 ERA in 13 1/3 innings since being acquired by the Braves from the Rangers on July 30. It was a hopeful transmission by the Braves, who also bolstered their bullpen by acquiring Shane Greene and Mark Melancon ahead of the trade deadline.
Martin’s immaculate inning is the seventh of the 2019 season, joining Josh Hader, Thomas Pannone, Chris Sale (twice), Stephen Strasburg, and Kevin Gausman. There have been 99 known total immaculate innings in baseball history by 91 different pitchers. It’s an achievement that has the hitters believing the pitches are coming in at the speed of sound.