Dellin Betances and "immaculate" can now be used in the same sentence for the rest of history. The new york yankees relief pitcher became part of an exclusive club with his performance during Wednesday's all-day, rain-soaked contest with the Detroit Tigers. He only faced three batters, but he dominated each one thoroughly. It wasn't enough for the Yankees to walk away with a victory, however.
Betances is immaculate
Betances came on to pitch in the eighth inning on Wednesday, with the Yankees trailing the Tigers 2-0. All he had to do was keep the Tigers off the scoreboard -- but he did one better.
The top of the order came to the plate for Detroit, so first, it was Jim Adduci -- three pitches, three strikes, with the last one swinging. Then, there was Justin Upton -- again, three pitches, three strikes -- this time with the last one looking. Finally, one of the most feared sluggers in the game, Miguel Cabrera -- three pitches, three strikes, with a swing to end the inning in just nine pitches.
The feat is known as an "immaculate inning," and it isn't done often. It was the 87th in major league history, but the first by a Yankees pitcher since Brandon McCarthy did it on September 17, 2014. It was also the sixth in the majors this year, according to David Adler of the MLB -- starters Max Scherzer and Carlos Carrasco, as well as relievers Drew Storen, Craig Kimbrel, and Kenley Jansen all achieved the feat prior to Betances this year.
Yankees lose anyway
Despite the impressive inning from Betances, he came into the game with the team trailing, something he had no control over. That didn't change for the rest of the day, as the Yankees failed to scratch across a run in the 2-0 defeat. Aaron Judge struck out twice, extending his streak of consecutive games with strikeouts to 21.
Tigers starter Jordan Zimmerman dominated, striking out six batters and shutting down the Yankees for seven full innings.
More notable than the performances of Betances and Zimmerman, however, was the rain. The deluge came and never truly stopped, sparking flash flood warnings and building ponds in the seats. The first pitch came about an hour and a half late, at 2:31 PM ET.
Seven innings were played, but then another delay lasted for over three hours, necessitating pitching changes and work by the ground crew. Fans wouldn't have been blamed for leaving Yankee Stadium, but they would've missed an immaculate inning if they did.
