3 K's, 9 pitches: Plesac's immaculate inning

It doesn’t get more textbook than Zach Plesac’s second inning against the Tigers on Friday night at Comerica Park: Nine pitches, three strikeouts, one immaculate inning. • History of immaculate innings Plesac fanned Jorge Bonifacio, Niko Goodrum and Austin Romine to accomplish the feat before walking off the mound sporting

It doesn’t get more textbook than Zach Plesac’s second inning against the Tigers on Friday night at Comerica Park: Nine pitches, three strikeouts, one immaculate inning.

• History of immaculate innings

Plesac fanned Jorge Bonifacio, Niko Goodrum and Austin Romine to accomplish the feat before walking off the mound sporting a huge smile. It was the Tribe’s first immaculate inning since Carlos Carrasco also tossed one against the Tigers on July 7, 2017, in the fifth inning. He struck out Nick Castellanos, Mikie Mahtook and José Iglesias.

Zach Plesac’s 2nd inning? Immaculate.#OurTribe pic.twitter.com/B4CwBah2x8

— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) September 19, 2020

The first seven of Plesac’s nine pitches in the inning came on swings. Bonifacio fouled off back-to-back heaters before swinging through an 87.7 mph slider. Goodrum swung and missed at a first-pitch changeup, then whiffed at two heaters at the top of the zone. Romine got a piece of the first slider he saw, but he kept the bat on his shoulder for the next two sliders on the outside corner — both called strikes.

Plesac’s momentum was broken up when he returned to the mound in the third, when he gave up a leadoff single to Isaac Paredes. But Paredes didn’t remain on first for long. Plesac reminded everyone of just how impressive his pick-off move is — especially for a right-hander — by catching Paredes creeping too far off the bag. It was Plesac’s second pickoff of the season after he led the Majors with six in 2019.