Nine Pitches. Nine Strikes. Inside Gavin Williams’ immaculate inning
Three Minnesota hitters entered the box. Each received exactly three pitches. All three swung through strike three as Williams completed one of baseball’s most precise innings.
REAL-TIME MLB PERFORMANCE FEATURE · UPDATED JULY 27, 2026
Gavin Williams needed no defensive play, no favorable call on a full count and no wasted setup pitch. In the fourth inning against Minnesota on July 23, the Guardians right-hander struck out Byron Buxton, Ryan Jeffers and Josh Bell on nine consecutive strikes.
It was Cleveland’s fifth recorded immaculate inning, the organization’s first since Enyel De Los Santos in September 2022 and only the second such inning thrown anywhere in Major League Baseball during the 2026 season.
What happened in the fourth inning?
Williams began with one of the most dangerous hitters in Minnesota’s lineup. Byron Buxton watched a sinker for strike one, fouled off a sweeper and then missed a 98.8 mph four-seam fastball above and away from the center of the zone.
Ryan Jeffers followed and saw one pitch shape three times. Williams delivered three consecutive sweepers, and Jeffers swung through all three.
Josh Bell received the most varied sequence. He took a curveball, fouled away a four-seamer and then swung through a 99.2 mph sinker for the ninth consecutive strike.
An immaculate inning is baseball with every unnecessary action removed: no ball, no contact in play and no fourth pitch.
Why the inning qualifies as immaculate
An immaculate inning requires a pitcher to strike out all three batters in an inning using exactly nine pitches. Each plate appearance must therefore end in a three-pitch strikeout.
A foul ball with two strikes can extend an at-bat without changing the count, which makes the accomplishment fragile. One taken ball, one extra foul or one ball put into play immediately ends the possibility.
Williams avoided every interruption. More impressively, all three finishing pitches produced swings and misses. The Twins did not merely watch borderline third strikes; Williams completed each encounter by beating the hitter’s bat.
The catcher did not recognize it immediately
The sequence was so efficient that Williams and catcher Patrick Bailey did not appear to experience it as a ceremonial countdown. Bailey later said he only realized what had happened after calling the ninth pitch.
Williams had also misremembered part of the Buxton plate appearance, believing the center fielder might have fouled away more pitches. When Bailey began celebrating after the final strike, Williams briefly wondered whether he had lost track of the outs.
That delayed recognition makes the moment feel less manufactured. Neither pitcher nor catcher abandoned the game plan to chase a statistical curiosity. They continued selecting pitches until the completed sequence revealed its own perfection.
More than one flawless inning
The fourth inning became the shareable headline, but Williams’ full performance was considerably larger. He threw seven scoreless innings, allowed only two singles, issued no walks and struck out 11.
The start gave Williams three consecutive games with 11 strikeouts. It was also his second straight outing with 11 strikeouts and zero walks, a sharp contrast with the command problems that had shaped his previous season.
Williams left with Cleveland leading 1-0, but Minnesota tied the game in the eighth and won 3-1 in 12 innings. Williams received a no-decision despite seven scoreless frames.
The result creates a familiar pitching paradox: an individual performance can be historically precise inside a team loss. Cleveland finished 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position, leaving Williams’ dominance without a winning decision.
Williams joins a short Cleveland list
MLB’s recorded Cleveland immaculate innings include Justin Masterson in 2014, Carlos Carrasco in 2017, Zach Plesac in 2020 and Enyel De Los Santos in 2022.
Williams became the fifth member of that group and the first Guardians pitcher to accomplish the feat in nearly four years. He also followed Arizona’s Michael Soroka as only the second major-league pitcher to throw an immaculate inning in 2026.
The inning’s place in team history matters because it connects different eras and roles. Some previous entries came from starters, others from relievers, but each reduced three major-league hitters to the smallest possible sequence.
Why the artwork leads with numbers
The design does not need to recreate all nine deliveries. “9 Pitches, 9 Strikes, 3 Outs” already behaves like a pitching line, scoreboard and definition at the same time.
The repeated nine creates visual rhythm before the final three resolves it. A reader unfamiliar with the term “immaculate inning” can still understand that no pitch was wasted.
Williams’ name and Cleveland context transform the numbers from generic baseball language into a timestamp from July 23, 2026. The graphic records not only a rare inning, but a performance that reflected his larger development into a more commanding, strike-throwing starter.
The design belongs in Ellie Shirt’s Cleveland Guardians collection as a tribute to nine uninterrupted strikes and one of the cleanest pitching sequences of the 2026 season.
Gavin Williams Immaculate Inning FAQ
When did Gavin Williams throw his immaculate inning?
Williams threw it in the fourth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field on July 23, 2026.
Which hitters did Gavin Williams strike out?
He struck out Byron Buxton, Ryan Jeffers and Josh Bell. All three strikeouts ended on swings and misses.
What is an immaculate inning?
It is an inning in which a pitcher strikes out three batters on exactly nine pitches, with every pitch recorded as a strike.
How fast were Williams’ final strikeout pitches?
He finished Buxton with a 98.8 mph four-seam fastball and completed the inning against Bell with a 99.2 mph sinker.
Was it the first immaculate inning in Guardians history?
No. Williams became the fifth recorded Cleveland pitcher to accomplish it and the first since Enyel De Los Santos in 2022.
Did Cleveland win the game?
No. Williams threw seven scoreless innings but received a no-decision. Minnesota eventually won 3-1 in 12 innings.
No pitch wasted
Explore the design that preserves Williams’ perfect fourth inning in the only numbers required to explain it.
Gavin Williams Immaculate Inning Shirt commemorates his nine-pitch, nine-strike masterpiece against Minnesota—a three-strikeout inning within seven scoreless frames.