On July 1, 1902, A’s pitcher Rube Waddell became the first American League pitcher to throw an immaculate inning. In the third* inning, Waddell struck out Billy Gilbert, Harry Howell, and Jack Cronin on nine consecutive pitches. He gave up only two hits over the course of the game, facing the minimum 27 batters en route to a 2-0 victory.
*I’ve also seen that Waddell accomplished the feat in the sixth inning. I went with the third here, because that’s what I’ve found indicated most frequently in my search.
Library of Congress
