Helsley had struck out the first two Reds of the inning on six pitches and ahead 0-2 on Solano, the right-hander realized he was a pitch away from perfection.
“I was like, alright, I’ve got one shot at it,” Helsley said. “Let’s try to rip the best pitch of the night.”
He spun his hardest slider of the game.
On nine pitches, Helsley struck out three Reds on Friday night to complete the third known immaculate inning in Cardinals’ history and first since 2002. Since record-keeping could confirm that a pitcher got three strikeouts on the minimum nine pitches, there have been 108 immaculate innings.