There have been 314 no-hitters in Major League history. In 2021 alone, more than 400 climbers summited Mt. Everest. In the last year, the four minute mile barrier has been broken more than 130 times by NCAA collegiates, and countless more by pros. But in all of baseball history, there have only been 103 occurrences of an immaculate inning thrown by a Major League pitcher.
Germán Márquez is one of those pitchers.
On August 18th, 2018, the Rockies found themselves 10 games above .500 and entering a rubber match on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Two and a half games back of the Dodgers for the NL West lead, Márquez took the ball in what was his second full season in the majors.