May 14, 1994 – Paul Shuey Strikes Out Four in the 9th Inning

The Indians selected Paul Shuey as the second overall pick in the 1992 amatuer draft. He was projected to be the Indians closer as the 1990s dynasty began to gel together.



About a month after moving into Jacobs Field, the Indians were 16-17 and facing the Tigers in a weekend divisional series. Jack Morris started for the Tribe against Bill Gullickson.

Eddie Murray put the Indians in the lead on the bottom of the first with a line drive triple to deep right field, scoring Carlos Baerga and Albert Belle.



In the bottom of the fifth with two outs, Manny Ramirez launched a three-run home run to deep right field. The Indians would continue to cruise through the rest of the game, eventually bringing a 9-3 lead into the top of the ninth.



Paul Shuey came on to replace setup man Jose Mesa who had given up one run on three hits in the 7th and 8th. Shuey got Chad Kreuter to strike out looking on six pitches. Next up was Chris Gomez, who struck out looking in a seven pitch at-bat. Then, Shuey issued two consecutive walks to Tony Philips and Milt Cuyler.



With two outs, Travis Fryman came to the plate. On the 0-2 pitch, Fryman struck out swinging, but the ball got away from Sandy Alomar. Fryman took first base on the wild pitch, and the other runners advanced to load the bases. Undeterred, Shuey headed back to the mound and struck out Cecil Fielder to end the game.



He became the 24th MLBer to record four strikeouts in an inning, and the first to do so in the ninth to end the game. 88 different pitchers have pitched four-strikeout innings to date.



In addition to Shuey, five Indians have pitched four strikeout innings:

Honorable Mention:

May 7, 2008 – Cliff Lee starts the season 6 – 0 will go on to win Cy Young.