Colin Holderman hates to lose, so the Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed reliever brought some anger to the mound while trailing the Tampa Bay Rays in the bottom of the seventh inning.

“I’ll tell you what, I was pretty mad going into it,” Holderman said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “I just honed that energy to the plate. I don’t like losing, so I was a little pent-up when I went out there.”

Nine pitches later, Holderman wasn’t just happy. He was immaculate.

Holderman pitched an immaculate inning, striking out the side by throwing all nine of his pitches for strikes, in the 3-2 loss to the Rays on Thursday afternoon at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. It was the first immaculate inning of the MLB season.

“It’s incredible,” Holderman said. “I’m extremely fortunate and thankful that it happened. It didn’t really cross my mind until after it happened. I think that’s for the better, but I’m happy.”

Colin Holderman throws the first immaculate inning of the season!

(MLB x @loanDepot) pic.twitter.com/BLzFXkm8yh

— MLB (@MLB) May 4, 2023

Holderman, 27, became the fourth pitcher in franchise history to throw an immaculate inning and the first since Juan Nicasio did so in the eighth inning at St. Louis on July 4, 2016. The others to accomplish the feat are Jeff Robinson, who tossed one in the eighth inning Sept. 7, 1987 at the Chicago Cubs, and Ross Ohlendorf, who completed his in the seventh inning Sept. 9, 2009 against the Cardinals.

The 6-foot-7, 240-pound Holderman, acquired from the New York Mets last July in a trade for designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach, describes himself as an ultra-competitive reliever with ultimate confidence.

Entering the game against the Rays, Holderman was 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.39 WHIP and 12 strikeouts against four walks in 13 innings with nine holds and one blown lead.

“I’m just trying to be as nasty as I can every pitch,” Holderman said. “Each one, after I throw it, once I get the ball back it’s next pitch, next pitch, next pitch. That’s all it is.”

The Pirates were forced to turn to their bullpen early after starter Vince Velasquez was removed after the third inning with right elbow discomfort. Jose Hernandez surrendered a solo home run in the fourth, and Duane Underwood Jr. followed with two scoreless innings.

The Pirates were trailing the Rays, 2-0, when Holderman came on in the seventh against the Nos. 6-7-8 hitters in the order and struck out the side by getting seven swings — three for foul balls — and two called strikes.

“That’s just a demonstration of what we’ve encountered, what we’ve been doing all year,” Velasquez said of Holderman. “For him to go out there and shut down that inning is pretty huge.”

Colin Holderman, Immaculate Inning. ???? pic.twitter.com/Df72qMgcNp

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 4, 2023

The first batter he faced was Rays second baseman Taylor Walls, who snapped Velasquez’s 19-inning scoreless streak with a solo homer in the second. Holderman got Walls to foul off the first two pitches, a 93.4 mph cutter and a 98.6 mph sinker, before looking at a called third strike on an 84.4 mph sweeper for the first out.

Right fielder Luke Raley was next, and Holderman got him to foul off the first pitch, a 93 mph cutter. Holderman then got Raley swinging at two more cutters, taking some heat off the second one for his second strikeout.

Catcher Christian Bethancourt was the final victim. Holderman used an 83.4 mph sweeper for a called strike, then got Bethancourt swinging at a 92.2 mph cutter and an 84.4 mph sweeper for his third strikeout.

“That was really impressive,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “He came in and obviously threw strikes. His stuff was really good. You don’t see those very often. It was dominant.”

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