PHOENIX — In his inaugural appearance with the Arizona Diamondbacks Monday evening, right-handed pitcher Michael Soroka accomplished a rare baseball feat by striking out three consecutive Detroit Tigers batters using exactly nine pitches during the fifth inning.
The 28-year-old hurler efficiently dispatched Javier Baez, Kerry Carpenter and Gleyber Torres, finishing with a 95 mph fastball that sailed past Torres for his tenth strikeout of the night, matching his personal best for a single game.
This marked Soroka’s debut performance for Arizona following his signing of a one-year contract worth $7.5 million this past offseason. The Canadian pitcher, who represented his country in the World Baseball Classic, joined an exclusive group within the organization.
Only three other Diamondbacks hurlers have achieved this nine-pitch, three-strikeout accomplishment: Hall of Famer Randy Johnson in 2001, Byung-Hyun Kim the following year, and Wade Miley in 2012.
Soroka earned All-Star recognition while playing for Atlanta in 2019, but consecutive Achilles tendon injuries derailed his career, forcing him to miss nearly the entire 2020 campaign and sit out completely during 2021 and 2022.
