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Reds' Gausman becomes 7th player with 2 immaculate innings

Joe Robbins / Getty Images Sport / Getty

For the second time in his career, Kevin Gausman was immaculate.

The Cincinnati Reds right-hander tossed an immaculate inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, fanning Yairo Munoz, Dexter Fowler, and Tommy Edman on nine pitches in the ninth inning of an eventual 5-4 loss.

Gausman previously accomplished the feat on April 23, 2018, as a member of the Baltimore Orioles. He's just the seventh pitcher to have two career immaculate innings, joining Lefty Grove, Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Max Scherzer, and Chris Sale. Koufax did it a record three times during his career.

On Sunday, Gausman tossed baseball's 99th immaculate inning - dating back to the first in 1889 - and the fifth in Reds history, according to Ed Eagle of MLB.com. It was also the sixth to be thrown in 2019.

"Honestly, I thought I did it in 10 (pitches)," Gausman told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. "Then they brought me the lineup (card). I said, 'I didn't do it. I did it in 10.' They said, 'No, you did it in nine.' Obviously for a pitcher, that's as good as it gets. It's fun when you can do it like that."

The 28-year-old owns a 2.57 ERA with 11 strikeouts since the Reds claimed him off waivers from Atlanta earlier this month.

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