Cubs right-hander Andrew Kittredge threw a slider to Tyler Stephenson that started just off the plate and kept moving away. Stephenson, having just seen two sinkers moving back toward him, took the bait.
Stephenson’s whiff, on Kittredge’s ninth pitch of the seventh inning, sealed it: Kittredge had just thrown the first immaculate inning of his veteran career.
“Honestly, it was kind of building off [Tuesday] night, where I was not in the zone as much as I’d like to be,” Kittredge said after the Cubs’ 6-1 win Wednesday against the Reds. “And today I made more of a conscious effort to be in the zone, and it just kind of fell into place.”
Immaculate inning from Andrew Kittredge! pic.twitter.com/uUN2vmjZJc
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 6, 2025
Kittredge had walked off the field Tuesday to a chorus of boos after surrendering four runs in one-third of an inning, the turning point in the Cubs’ 5-1 loss.
He received a much warmer reception Wednesday, after he struck out the side with nine straight strikes, to maintain the Cubs’ two-run lead at the time.
“You always want to just get back out there as quick as you can,” Kittredge said. “And I really appreciate that from [manager Craig Counsell], just having faith in me to put me back in that situation.”
Kittredge’s immaculate inning was the first by a Cub since Hayden Wesneski’s at Pittsburgh on Sept. 22, 2022.
There are only four other immaculate innings by Cubs pitchers on record, according to team historian Ed Hartig: LaTroy Hawkins (Sept. 11, 2004 vs. Marlins), Lynn McGlothen (Aug. 25, 1979 vs. Giants), Bruce Sutter (Sept. 8, 1977 vs. Expos) and Milt Pappas (Sept. 24, 1971 vs. Phillies).
Kittredge said he knew he was on pace for an immaculate inning after the second strikeout. Catcher Carson Kelly said he didn’t realize it until the last pitch.
Kelly called the same sequence for each batter, to fan Austin Hays, Gavin Lux and Stephenson: sinker, sinker slider.
Horton holds steady
Bizarre circumstances surrounded the only two instances of rookie Cubs starter Cade Horton allowing a runner into scoring position Wednesday, as he cruised to 5 ⅔ scoreless innings.
In the first inning, third baseman Matt Shaw dropped a popup as he battled the sun.
In the fourth, Hays hit a fly ball off the bottom of the chain-link basket that tops the outfield wall. The odd angle sent the ball straight down and off the back of left fielder Ian Happ’s head for a double.
“Just really setting myself up for success by getting the leadoff guy out,” Horton said of the key to navigating those situations. “Because it’s baseball, plays like that are going to happen. And so just continue tacking the hitter and doing the task at hand.”
After both plays, he struck out the next hitter he faced.
Horton only allowed two hits Wednesday. And he extended his scoreless streak to 23 ⅓ innings. If the Cubs weren’t limiting his workload down the stretch, he could have pitched deeper into the game.
“We want a healthy Cade Horton, we want a strong Cade Horton for the rest of the season,” Counsell said. “And so we’re going to have to make some tough decisions. And that’s just part of it. And it’s the right thing to do for the team and for Cade.”
Amaya circling return
Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya could return from the injured list as soon as the Cubs’ series in Toronto next week, Counsell said Wednesday. Amaya has been sidelined by a strain to his left oblique since late May.
On a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa, Amaya started behind the plate Wednesday, catching right-hander Javier Assad’s (strained left oblique) rehab start. It was Amaya’s 10th rehab game, between the Arizona Complex League and Triple-A.
