Michael Soroka of Calgary, Alberta accomplished a significant feat in his debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday. Soroka became the third Canadian pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball to throw an immaculate inning.
An immaculate inning is when a pitcher throws nine pitches in one inning and has three strikeouts. Soroka accomplished the feat in the top of the fifth inning in a 9-6 Diamondbacks win over the Detroit Tigers at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. Soroka struck out Javier Baez, Kerry Carpenter and Gleyber Torres all swinging.
The first Canadian pitcher to thrown an immaculate inning was Rich Harden of Victoria, British Columbia. His immaculate inning came with the Oakland Athletics against the Los Angeles Angels in the first inning in a 7-3 Athletics victory on June 8, 2008. The second Canadian pitcher to throw an immaculate inning was Cal Quantrill of Port Hope, Ontario. His immaculate inning came with the Miami Marlins against the Tampa Bay Rays in the fourth inning in a 5-1 Marlins win on May 18, 2025.
Remarkably, Soroka left the game after his immaculate inning. He threw five innings and gave up zero earned runs and four hits to go along with 10 strikeouts and one walk. Of Soroka’s 89 pitches, 60 were strikes.
