CHICAGO -- Now that’s how you deliver a bounce-back performance.
On Tuesday night against the Reds, Andrew Kittredge, who was acquired by the Cubs at the Trade Deadline, entered a tie ballgame with one out in the top of the seventh. He never made it out of the frame, though, as he allowed four runs on four hits (one home run) and one walk and recorded only one out. He ended up taking the loss in his third outing with the ballclub.
So how did the 35-year-old righty respond? With an immaculate inning, of course.
Entering the top of the seventh with Chicago leading Cincinnati by two -- in a game the Cubs won, 6-1 -- Kittredge faced the middle of the Reds’ order in designated hitter Austin Hays, second baseman Gavin Lux and catcher Tyler Stephenson. And he made quick work of all of them.
Kittredge induced three consecutive swinging strikeouts, needing only nine pitches to get the job done. His slider, which already entered the game with a 34.6 percent whiff rate (per Statcast), finished off all three punchouts and produced whiffs on all three swings at the pitch.
Per Cubs historian Ed Hartig, Kittredge’s immaculate inning is the sixth in team history and the first since Hayden Wesneski’s on Sept. 22, 2022, against the Pirates. It is also the 120th occurrence in Major League history.
Kittredge said he was aware he had a shot at the feat after the second strikeout, and he was “trying to just make pitches at that point.” With this being his first immaculate inning, he saved the ball and will probably “put it on the mantel somewhere at home.”
Meanwhile, it took catcher Carson Kelly a little bit longer to figure out what was happening.
“The last pitch,” Kelly said of when he realized Kittredge was nearing an immaculate inning. “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.”
Manager Craig Counsell doesn’t know how many immaculate innings he has seen in person, though he was certainly impressed by this one. However, what he might have liked most about it was Kittredge’s ability to go out in a similar spot and put together a better performance.
“That's what being like a big league reliever is about, right?” Counsell said. “It's about, things don't go your way the night before, and you're asked to come out and deliver in the same situation -- and you deliver. I love that.”
“That was great,” Kittredge said. “You always want to just get back out there as quick as you can. I really appreciate that from Couns', just having faith in me to put me back in that situation. Just good to get back out there, just so you don't have to stew on it too long.”
Chicago brought in Kittredge in the hope he’d quickly become a trusted option in the late innings. If his struggles Tuesday caused any concerns, his “immaculate” recovery Wednesday might just help quell them.
“Being a big league player and being a big league reliever, you have to have a short memory,” Counsell said. “It's the same guy and he's a good pitcher, and we're going to need him.”