From Booed to Brilliant: Andrew Kittredge’s Stunning Immaculate Inning Shocks Cubs and Fans Alike

Andrew Kittredge’s start with the Chicago Cubs has been a wild rollercoaster—two flawless outings, a stumble that left fans cringing, and then bam!—a moment that etched his name into franchise lore. In his very next outing, Kittredge delivered a stunning display of pitching mastery: an immaculate inning, only the sixth ever recorded by the Cubs. Picture this: nine pitches, nine strikes, three batters dispatched with surgical precision—all during the seventh inning showdown against the Cincinnati Reds. The trio—Austin Hays, Gavin Lux, and Tyler Stephenson—never even sniffed a ball out of the strike zone. Now, an immaculate inning might be a quiet superstar of baseball’s rarified achievements, overshadowed by the glitz of perfect games and no-hitters, yet with only 120 ever thrown in MLB history, it holds its own unique gravitas. Lately, these gems have been popping up a bit more often, but they still leave you in awe. Oh, and did I mention this came just a day after Kittredge faced a tough moment getting booed off Wrigley Field? Talk about bouncing back from adversity with style! For a journeyman reliever with nine years under his belt, this inning wasn’t just a stat—it was a statement. Curious to dive deeper into this remarkable feat and Kittredge’s journey with the Cubs? LEARN MORE

Andrew Kittredge’s first two appearances with the Chicago Cubs were perfect. His third appearance was a disaster.

His fourth appearance? The sixth immaculate inning in franchise history.

The veteran reliever accomplished the feat of three strikeouts on nine pitches on Wednesday in the seventh inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds. His victims: Austin Hays, Gavin Lux and Tyler Stephenson, all of whom went down swinging.

Immaculate innings are one of the lesser-known single-game accomplishments in baseball, but the fact that there have only been 120 in MLB history puts them closer to perfect games (24) than no-hitters (326) on the rarity scale. They are becoming more frequent, though, with 13 in the past four seasons.

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Cal Quantrill of the Miami Marlins and Brandon Young of the Baltimore Orioles are responsible for the other two immaculate innings this season.

Kittredge, whom the Cubs acquired at the trade deadline for infield prospect Wilfri De La Cruz, entered the history books just one day after getting booed off the field at Wrigley Field. He allowed four earned runs in an inning of work, taking the loss in a 5-1 Reds victory.

Immaculate innings have a tendency to sneak up on people who are watching the game, or even the ones playing in it. The Cubs booth praised Kittredge for bouncing back by striking out the side, until a graphic showed the words “immaculate inning” and Cubs catcher Carson Kelly admitted he didn’t realize what was happening until pitch No. 9:

“The last pitch [is when I realized]. I was like, ‘Wow. We went sinker, sinker, slider; sinker, sinker, slider; sinker, sinker… slider?’ It was pretty cool to be a part of that.”

Kittredge is a nine-year MLB veteran and was solid in his half-season with Orioles — solid enough in fact to get traded as the team decided to punt on a lost 2025 season. He was one of four players acquired by the Cubs at the deadline, alongside fellow reliever Taylor Rogers, utility man Willi Castro and starting pitcher Michael Soroka, whose status is very up in the air right now.