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The constraint in pitching efficiency is pitch count: a starter who throws fewer pitches per out stays on the mound longer and keeps the bullpen resting.
Thomas Pannone, a 32-year-old left-hander for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, made that case Monday night, retiring all 27 Durham Bulls batters he faced on just 94 pitches in a 3-0 win.
The outing was a perfect game, the first nine-inning, single-pitcher effort across Minor League Baseball since 2017. Pannone's final line: nine innings, zero hits, zero walks, eight strikeouts.
That makes him one of only five pitchers to throw a solo perfect game in the 142-year history of the International League, a circuit that dates to 1884.
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