Michael Kopech made MLB history Wednesday, pitching a perfect ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins to give the Chicago White Sox a 3-1 victory in the first game of a doubleheader at Guaranteed Rate Field in the Windy City.
“I told the guys I was there, I was trying not to fool them, but I was thinking about it from the fourth pitch,” Michael Kopech said of the perfect inning after the game.”“As soon as I realized there were no balls on the scoreboard, I wanted to complete the feat. It feels good, but I never would have thought about it if I had thrown a ball in there at any point. I’m just glad I had a clean inning and got the win.”
Michael Kopech struck out Brooks Lee on a called third strike after fouling off the first two pitches, and against Matt Wallner he fanned him on another 100 mph fastball after fouling off and missing on two previous fastballs. Finally, against Max Kepler, Kopech fanned him on (guess what) another 100 mph fastball after he had struck him out on two cutters.
Michael Kopech’s perfect inning (9 pitches and 3 strikeouts) is his first in MLB this season. It is only the second perfect inning in White Sox history. No White Sox pitcher has accomplished the feat in more than 100 years. The last time the White Sox were involved in a perfect inning was on April 14, 1998, when the Orioles’ Jimmy Key shut out Robin Ventura, Magglio Ordonez and Ray Durham.
Before Michael Kopech, the last perfect inning on record in MLB was pitched by Johan Oviedo of the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 24, 2023. He struck out Josh Smith, Robbie Grossman and Jonah Heim on nine pitches in the fourth inning of that game.
“That’s what he’s capable of,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said after the game. “We’re never going to give that up. Ever. We’re not going to give that up. That’s the talent he has. And that’s what he can bring.”
The game before Michael Kopech’s performance
Luis Robert Jr. hit a two-run home run and the Chicago White Sox finally got past the Minnesota Twins, 3-1, in the first game of a doubleheader Wednesday.
Erick Fedde earned the win, pitching five scoreless innings to improve to 7-3, and the bullpen held on to give White Sox its first win over its American League Central Division rivals in nine opportunities this season.
Matt Wallner homered and All-Star Carlos Correa went 4-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games for the Twins, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.
Bailey Ober (8-5) pitched four scoreless innings, but Gavin Sheets led off the fifth with a double and scored four pitches later on a sacrifice fly by Paul DeJong. Andrew Vaughn doubled in the sixth and scored after Robert sent his 11th home run into the center field bleachers.
Wallner homered off Jordan Leasure in the seventh to break up Chicago’s shutout.
Michael Kopech, the last of four White Sox relievers, pitched a perfect ninth inning with three strikeouts for his ninth save.
Ober, who had won three of his last four starts, allowed four hits and a base on balls while retiring five batters in the first six innings.
Fedde allowed four hits, struck out five and walked two in five scoreless innings to help the White Sox snap a three-game losing streak.
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