Strikeout - More Than Three Strikeouts in An Inning

More Than Three Strikeouts in An Inning

If a third strike is not caught cleanly by the catcher, it is still recorded as a strikeout for both the pitcher and the batter. Under certain situations, however, the batter is not ruled out and the play is still alive. This occurs under the following circumstances:

1. First base is not occupied or there have already been two outs recorded.
2. The catcher fails to cleanly catch the ball that led to the third strike.

The batter becomes a batter-runner and may proceed to first base as soon as he gets three strikes and the pitch is not caught in flight by the catcher. If he makes it to first base without being tagged or forced out, the out is not recorded. Since a strikeout is awarded in such cases while the play that does not result in an out, it is possible for a pitcher to record more than three strikeouts in one standard half-inning. Recording four strikeouts in one inning has occurred 66 times in Major League history. The first Major League player credited with this rare feat was Ed "Cannonball" Crane of the New York Giants on October 4, 1888.

Prior to 1960, the event was extremely rare, having taken place only eight times. Although more common since then, it remains one of the most rare single-game achievements. Chuck Finley accomplished the feat on May 12 and August 15, 1999, with the Anaheim Angels and again on April 16, 2000, with the Cleveland Indians. Pete Richert of the Los Angeles Dodgers is the only pitcher to do it in his MLB debut (April 12, 1962, against the Cincinnati Reds). The most recent player to achieve the feat is Craig Kimbrel of the Atlanta Braves in the ninth inning of a night game at Turner Field against the Miami Marlins on September 26, 2012.

Five strikeouts in one inning has never occurred in a regulation Major League Baseball game. It has occurred at least three times at the minor league level. Mike Schultz of the Lancaster JetHawks struck out five batters in one inning on July 16, 2004, and Garrett Bauer of the Rockford RiverHawks struck out five batters in one inning on July 1, 2008.

Houston Astros pitcher Joe Niekro struck out five Minnesota Twins batters in the first inning of an exhibition spring training game, April 7, 1976 at New Orleans. Niekro's catcher, Cliff Johnson, was charged with five passed balls in the inning. Exhibition games are not recorded in official statistics.