Oliver Perez threw no pitches and had the least eventful relief appearance you'll ever see
Veteran lefty
In the bottom of the seventh, manager Terry Francona called upon the southpaw Perez to relieve
Francona decided to bring in right-hander
Just another day of hard work at the office, right Ollie?
It's not terribly strange for a reliever to have an outing with zero pitches: That has happened 12 times in the past decade alone. Usually it occurs because a baserunner is caught stealing or picked off. For example, that's how the Reds'
What made Perez's appearance truly unusual is the new intentional walk rule, which was enacted in 2017. Before then, if a manager wanted a new pitcher to intentionally walk someone, the reliever would still be credited with the four pitches he had to throw to put the runner on. (Think
Those four pitches are now unnecessary. According to Baseball Reference, Perez became just the second pitcher since 1908 to have an outing of zero pitches and zero innings. The only other player with such a unique outing? Mike Stanton. (No, not pre-2012 Giancarlo.)
Stanton's appearance had a weird story of its own. He was with the Nationals on July 15, 2005, when his manager, Frank Robinson, brought him in to face Lyle Overbay of the Brewers with the bases loaded in the bottom of ninth.
Before Stanton could throw a pitch, he balked:
The game was over, and Stanton was in the history books for something he'd surely like to forget.
At least Perez endured a better fate in his outing.