Mark Buehrle Pitches a Perfect Game for the White Sox

On July 23, 2009, Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox retired all 27 Tampa Bay Rays batters he faced in a 5-0 victory at U.S. Cellular Field, throwing the 18th perfect game in major league history. The left-hander needed just 116 pitches across two hours and three minutes to carve through a Rays lineup that had won the American League pennant the previous season.

Buehrle struck out six and induced 15 ground-ball outs with his trademark pitch-to-contact style. He threw first-pitch strikes to 22 of the 27 batters he faced, never working a full count and never allowing the Rays to mount any kind of threat. The efficiency was vintage Buehrle, a pitcher who had long been one of the fastest workers in the game.

The closest call came in the ninth inning. With one out, Gabe Kapler hit a deep fly ball to left-center field that appeared headed for extra bases. Center fielder DeWayne Wise, who had entered the game as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning, sprinted toward the wall, leaped, and caught the ball at the top of the fence. His momentum carried him into the wall and the ball briefly popped from his glove before he secured it as he tumbled to the warning track. Umpire review confirmed the catch. Buehrle then retired Michel Hernandez on a grounder and got Jason Bartlett to fly out to right to end it.

The perfect game came just 24 days after Buehrle had thrown a no-hitter against the same Rays team on national television. Between the two outings, he retired a combined 54 consecutive batters, breaking the previous American League record of 41 set by Dave Stieb. The streak would eventually reach 45 before the next batter reached base.

Buehrle was a five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner who pitched 16 seasons in the majors, winning 214 games. The perfect game was the capstone of a career defined by durability and precision. He threw at least 200 innings in 14 consecutive seasons, a streak of consistency matched by very few pitchers in the modern era.