![]() Maton was 0-2, 3.84 in 67 appearances – with 73 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings. Garcia finished the season at 15-8, 3.72 (28 starts) – with 157 whiffs in 157 1/3 innings pitched. Also of note is that the Rangers’ 1B Nathaniel Lowe, 2B Ezequiel Duran and 3B Brad Miller (the 6-7-8 hitters) were the victims in both Immaculate Innings – making them, of course, the first and currently only three players to be victims in two Immaculate frames in the same game. The Astros, by the way, won the game (started by Garcia) 9-2 and four Houston pitchers notched a total of 14 strikeouts. Garcia tossed his nine-pitch, three-whiff fame in the bottom of the second, while Maton achieved the feat in the bottom of the seventh. The two Houston hurlers each tossed an “Immaculate Inning.” It was, as noted, the first-ever MLB game in which two pitchers each tossed an Immaculate Inning and, of course, also made them the first and (currently) only teammates to toss an Immaculate Inning in the same game. On June 15, Astros’ pitchers Luis Garcia and Phil Maton pitched their way into the record books. And, the “Improbability Factor” was raised even further by the fact that those two Immaculate frames were thrown by two pitchers on the same team and the same three opposing batters were the strikeout victims. But how improbable is it to see two Immaculate Innings in one game? It’s only been done once – on June 15 of last season. Now, these days, “Immaculate Innings” (three up, three down, three strikeouts, nine [pitches) are not all that improbable – after all, there were seven of them in 2022 alone. Number Two … The Rangers Didn’t have a Prayer. Alston countered by calling Miller back and sending up left-handed swinging Len Gabrielson (who singled in the winning tally.) Without the switch, Miller’s final plate appearance home run could have become just an obscure next-to-last at bat dinger. Giants’ skipper Clyde King –playing the percentages – brought in veteran righty Don McMahon to pitch. Dodgers’ manager Walt Alston sent the right-handed hitting Miller up to hit for LA pitcher Jim Brewer. Southpaw Ron Bryant was on the mound for the Giants and, after getting Dodgers’ SS Maury Wills to pop out, he gave up singles to LF Manny Mota and CF Willie Davis. ![]() That game was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the eleventh inning. Miller almost came to the plate one more time – on September 27, as the Dodgers and Giants faced off at Dodger Stadium. ![]() What further makes Miller’s homer an Improbable is how close he came to not homering in his final at bat. How improbable was that feat? Remember, Miller hit only two home runs in his entire (32-game) MLB career – and, to this date, is still only one of two players to homer in his first and final plate MLB appearances. They also witnessed Miller becoming just the second MLB player ever to homer in his very first MLB plate appearance (for the Yankees on September 11, 1966) and very last MLB plate appearance. On September 23, 1969, fans in Cincinnati saw Dodgers’ pinch hitter John Miller hit his second (and final) MLB career home run. That kind of coincidence in a single season is the kind of Improbable that catches The Roundtable’s eye. It was Burger’s fourth homer of 2022 and fifth of his career. Then, on May 28 ( National Hamburger Day), White Sox’ 3B Jake Burger homered in the Sox 5-1 win over the Cubs. It was just Beer’s second career homer and first career walk-off long ball – and the only home run he would hit in 2022. April 7 was National Beer Day – and guess what? Diamondbacks’ DH Seth Beer (gotta love that baseball name) hit a walk-off home run to push the Diamondbacks past the Padres 4-2. Number One … A Beer and a Burger, Please. Baseball Roundtable Top Dozen MLB Improbables From 2022 I’ll also throw in a few bonus Improbables from seasons past. With that in mind, and to get in the mood for another season of big-league ball, I would like to use this post to reflect on Baseball Roundtable’s Top Dozen “ Improbables” from the 2022 season. ![]() After all, in 2002 alone, fans saw six triple plays (including the first-ever MLB CF-to-3B triple play) four no-hitters four games in which the winning team plated 20 or more runs a player picking up his tenth win on the mound and his 25 th home run at the plate in the same game a pitcher with only three balks in an eight-season MLB career tying an MLB record by committing all three balks in the same inning … and I could go on and on. As MLB Opening Day approaches, Baseball Roundtable is looking forward to another season in which – as usual – fans can expect to see something new, different or at least improbable every time they go to the ballpark. ![]()
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