Now this is one for the weird-but-wonderful baseball archives. Steven Matz, the lefty reliever for the St. Louis Cardinals, just did something that’s only been done once in franchise history — and the only other guy to pull it off? Just a little someone named Bob Gibson. Yeah, that Bob Gibson. Matz struck out four in one inning.
Back in 1966, the Cardinals legend also struck out four in one inning, one of the rarest quirks in all of baseball. And now, Matz joins him as the only other pitcher in the long, storied history of the Cardinals to do the same.
The moment came Thursday during the first game of a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox — and it was nothing short of wild.
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Matz entered in the bottom of the sixth and immediately got to work. First up: Lenyn Sosa, who went down swinging… but reached first base anyway on a dropped third strike and wild pitch. If you’re new to the rule: yes, it still counts as a strikeout, even though the batter’s technically safe.
Next, Austin Slater — frozen on strike three looking. That’s your second strikeout, but only the first actual out of the inning.
Then, a hiccup — Michael A. Taylor stepped in and blasted a two-run homer to give the opposing side a 4–2 lead. Suddenly, the inning took on that “what-is-happening” energy.
But Matz stayed locked in. He came right back and struck out Mike Tauchman and Chase Meidroth to finish off the frame.
Four strikeouts. One home run. One unforgettable inning.
And that wasn’t the only Cardinal to make history on the 19th of June. Nolan Arenado became only the 7th player to show this combo of offense and defense. The other six are Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt, Ken Griffey Jr., Johnny Bench, Al Kaline, Andruw Jones. On top of that, rookie reliever Andre Granillo became only the second player to perform this feat and he did it in his first week in the majors.
In less than two full innings of work, Matz made Cardinals history — and the only person standing next to him in that record book is one of the most dominant pitchers the game has ever seen. Not a bad day’s work for a reliever just looking to hold down the sixth.
MLB stat guru Sarah Langs broke the news on social, noting that Matz and Gibson are the only two Cardinals to have struck out four in one inning. And sure, it’s quirky. But it’s also a reminder: baseball is chaos, and that’s why we love it.
There’s a solid chance Steven Matz will never have another inning quite like this again — four punchouts, a two-run bomb, and a page in the history books? That’s the kind of baseball madness you just can’t script.
