On a September Monday in Nashville, Thomas Pannone — a 32-year-old left-hander who has spent years wandering baseball's margins — retired all 27 batters he faced, throwing the first perfect game in Minor League Baseball since 2017 and only the fifth in the International League's 142-year history. It was an act of rare precision: 94 pitches, eight strikeouts, no walks, no blemishes. In a sport that measures men by their persistence as much as their talent, Pannone's perfection arrived not in the flush of youth but after years of quiet, stubborn refusal to quit.
Ex-MLB pitcher Pannone throws perfect game for Nashville Sounds
27 outs on 94 pitches, an average of just 3.5 per batter
Mark
What makes a perfect game in the minors different from one in the majors? Is it less impressive?
Mimi
The mechanics are identical—27 outs, nothing gets on base. But the context matters. Minor league rosters are less stable, talent is still being evaluated. The fact that it's the first in nine years across all of Minor League Baseball tells you something about how rare it is, even with less polished competition.
Luke
Though we should note the source doesn't specify the quality of the Durham Bulls lineup that night. We know Pannone was dominant, but we don't know if he was facing a particularly weak team or a competitive one.
Mark
Pannone's had some real moments in his career—the no-hitter in his debut, the immaculate inning. Why hasn't he stuck in the majors?
Mimi
That's the question, isn't it? He had 49 games with Toronto across two seasons. Then he bounced around—Cubs, Angels, Yankees systems, even Korea. A spot start with Milwaukee this summer was his first big league appearance in three years. Sometimes talent alone isn't enough.
Luke
The reporting doesn't explain why he didn't stick. We know he moved around, but we don't know if it was injury, performance, roster decisions, or something else. That's a gap.
Mark
Does a perfect game like this actually change his trajectory?
Mimi
It could. It's the kind of performance that gets noticed, that reminds people what he's capable of. At 32, he's not a prospect anymore—he's a veteran with a track record. This gives him leverage.
Luke
Maybe. But one perfect game in Triple-A doesn't automatically mean another MLB shot. The source suggests it "doesn't seem far out of reach," but that's speculation. We'll have to see what actually happens.
Il Polso
- A perfect game has not been thrown by a single pitcher in Minor League Baseball in nearly a decade, making Pannone's performance an immediate piece of history the moment the final out was recorded.
- The tension peaked in the ninth inning when a tight count threatened to unravel everything — one more ball and the perfect game would have dissolved into a walk, erasing all 26 outs that came before.
- Pannone battled back with consecutive strikes to retire the final batter, preserving a gem that now ranks among only five solo perfect games in a league that has existed since 1884.
- The performance lands as both a statistical rarity and a personal vindication for a journeyman who has pitched through the Cubs, Angels, Yankees, and Korean Baseball Organization systems just to stay relevant.
- With a recent spot start for Milwaukee already on his 2025 résumé, Monday night's perfection gives Pannone a compelling argument for another shot at the major leagues at age 32.
On a September Monday in Nashville, Thomas Pannone — a 32-year-old left-hander who has spent years wandering baseball's margins — retired all 27 batters he faced, throwing the first perfect game in Minor League Baseball since 2017 and only the fifth in the International League's 142-year history. It was an act of rare precision: 94 pitches, eight strikeouts, no walks, no blemishes. In a sport that measures men by their persistence as much as their talent, Pannone's perfection arrived not in the flush of youth but after years of quiet, stubborn refusal to quit.
Thomas Pannone took the mound for the Nashville Sounds on a Monday night in September and did something Minor League Baseball hadn't seen in nearly a decade: he retired every batter he faced. The 32-year-old left-hander threw a perfect game — eight strikeouts, no walks, 27 outs on just 94 pitches — leading Nashville to a 3-0 win over the Durham Bulls. It was only the fifth solo perfect game in the International League's 142-year history, dating back to 1884.
The drama arrived in the ninth inning. With the final batter at the plate and the count running tight, one more ball would have ended the perfection with a walk. Instead, Pannone fired consecutive strikes and secured the final out — the kind of moment a pitcher carries for the rest of his life.
For Pannone, brushing up against history is not entirely new. During his time with the Toronto Blue Jays, he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning of his major league debut and later threw an immaculate inning — three strikeouts on nine straight pitches — against Tampa Bay. Those early flashes suggested real ability, but the years that followed were anything but smooth.
After leaving Toronto in 2020, Pannone drifted through the minor league systems of the Cubs, Angels, and Yankees, and spent time pitching in the Korean Baseball Organization. Earlier this summer, he earned a spot start with the Milwaukee Brewers — his first major league appearance in three years — before returning to Triple-A and the daily grind of Nashville.
A perfect game at 32, after years of wandering baseball's back roads, carries a different weight than one thrown by a rising prospect. It is a statement from someone who refused to disappear. Whether another MLB opportunity follows remains uncertain, but the performance itself — flawless, efficient, and hard-won — stands as its own kind of answer.
Thomas Pannone took the mound for the Nashville Sounds on a Monday night in September and did something that hasn't happened in Minor League Baseball for nearly a decade: he retired every single batter he faced. The 32-year-old left-hander threw a perfect game, striking out eight and walking none across nine innings, using just 94 pitches to lead Nashville to a 3-0 victory over the Durham Bulls.
Perfection in baseball is rare enough in the majors. In the minors, where rosters turn over constantly and talent is still being sorted, it borders on the mythical. Pannone's performance marked the first nine-inning perfect game by a single pitcher in Minor League Baseball since 2017. Within the International League's 142-year history—stretching back to 1884—only four other pitchers have accomplished the feat. The efficiency of it was striking: 27 outs on 94 pitches, an average of just 3.5 pitches per batter.
The drama arrived late. In the bottom of the ninth, with the final batter standing in the box, Pannone found himself in a tight count. One more ball and the perfect game would slip away on a walk. Instead, he fired consecutive strikes, battling back to retire the hitter and secure the final out. It was the kind of moment that defines a career, the kind of thing a pitcher remembers forever.
For Pannone, flirting with baseball history is not entirely new. During his time with the Toronto Blue Jays from 2018 to 2019, he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning of his major league debut against Baltimore. In 2019, he threw an immaculate inning against Tampa Bay—three strikeouts on nine consecutive pitches, the rarest of baseball achievements. Those moments suggested a pitcher with genuine stuff, genuine command.
But the path from those early glimpses of brilliance to Monday night was anything but straight. After leaving Toronto in 2020, Pannone became a journeyman, moving through the minor league systems of the Cubs, Angels, and Yankees. He spent time pitching in the Korean Baseball Organization, chasing opportunities wherever they appeared. Earlier this summer, he earned a spot start for the Milwaukee Brewers, his first appearance in the majors in three years. Then it was back to Triple-A, back to Nashville, back to the grind.
Monday night changed something. A perfect game at 32 years old, after years of wandering through baseball's back roads, carries a different weight than one thrown by a prospect in his early twenties. It's a statement from someone who refused to disappear, who kept showing up. Whether it leads to another major league opportunity remains to be seen, but the performance itself—27 outs, 94 pitches, zero blemishes—stands on its own. In a sport obsessed with second chances and redemption, Pannone just gave himself one more reason to believe another one might be coming.
Citazioni salienti
Pannone faced the immediate risk of a game-ruining walk in the ninth inning but fired consecutive strikes to retire the final batter— Game account
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