Michael Soroka throws immaculate 5th inning in Diamondbacks debut

Michael Soroka struck out three straight batters on nine pitches in the fifth inning Monday night against the Detroit Tigers, becoming the fourth pitcher in Diamondbacks history to throw an immaculate inning.

Nine consecutive strikes. Three up, three down. Javier Baez, Kerry Carpenter, and Gleyber Torres all went back to the dugout without putting a ball in play. Michael Soroka blew a 95 mph fastball past Torres for his tenth strikeout of the game to finish it off, tying a career high.

Michael Soroka Immaculate Inning

IMMACULATE INNING FOR MICHAEL SOROKA!

10 strikeouts through 5 innings in his @Dbacks debut! pic.twitter.com/M9hopu3jxN

— MLB (@MLB) March 31, 2026

The other Diamondbacks pitchers to do it were Randy Johnson in 2001, Byung-Hyun Kim in 2002, and Wade Miley in 2012. Not a bad list to be on.

The immaculate inning is not as rare as it once was. There were none recorded between 1929 and 1952 and then seven alone in 2022. It is still a special accomplishment and any pitcher who can go through a big league lineup on nine straight strikes at any point in any season deserves recognition for it.

Immaculate Innings: 3 strikeouts on 9 pitches >>

Long way back for Michael Soroka. He was an All-Star for the Braves in 2019 and looked like he was going to be one of the better young starters in the National League. Then he suffered back-to-back Achilles injuries that cost him most of 2020 and all of 2021 and 2022.

By the time most people had written him off he was fighting just to get back to a big league rotation. Michael Sorka signed a one-year $7.5 million deal with Arizona this offseason and threw an immaculate inning in his first start for the team.

Monday night was a reminder that the comeback stories are always worth watching.

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