For just one inning Monday, Juan Nicasio was perfect.

The Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander completed baseball's first immaculate inning of 2016 during Monday's 4-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Nicasio took the mound in the eighth inning and proceeded to strike out Stephen Piscotty, Jhonny Peralta, and Yadier Molina on nine pitches. It's the third nine-pitch, three-strikeout inning in Pirates franchise history.

PIRATES' IMMACULATE INNINGS

Date Pitcher Opponent Inning Hitters 7/7/1987 Jeff Robinson Cubs 8th Leon Durham; Andre Dawson; Rafael Palmeiro 9/5/2009 Ross Ohlendorf Cardinals 7th Khalil Greene; Julio Lugo; Jason LaRue 7/4/2016 Juan Nicasio Cardinals 8th Stephen Piscotty; Jhonny Peralta; Yadier Molina

"Very joyful and grateful to be a part of that history. I just found out and it put a big smile on my face," Nicasio told MLB.com's Adam Berry through an interpreter. "The truth is my focus is just hitting the zone. I'm glad to be a part of that history."

Nicasio's immaculate inning was the 74th in major-league history, and the first since Santiago Casilla did it for the Giants on May 17 of last year.

The first immaculate inning was thrown by Hall of Famer John Clarkson on June 4, 1889.