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Chicago White Sox reliever Michael Kopech recorded Major League Baseball's first immaculate inning in more than a year on Wednesday as part of a 3-1 win against the Minnesota Twins (box score). An "immaculate inning," for the unaware, is when a pitcher strikes out the side on nine pitches -- or, the minimum amount required for such a feat. Kopech's immaculate inning was the 113th in MLB history, according to Baseball Almanac.

Injured Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Johan Oviedo had recorded MLB's most recent immaculate inning prior to Kopech's effort on Wednesday. Oviedo's entrance into history came last May against the Texas Rangers. The last pitcher in White Sox franchise history to throw an immaculate inning was Hollis "Sloppy" Thurston more than a century ago, on Aug. 22, 1923.

Kopech, who earned his ninth save on Wednesday, punched out Brooks Lee, Matt Wallner, and Max Kepler, who was inserted into the game to pinch-hit for Manuel Margot. Here's a look:

Afterward, Kopech told reporters (including Sox Machine's James Fegan) that "I would definitely say I needed that." He added that he began to think about an immaculate inning as early as his fourth pitch. 

CBS Sports recently named Kopech as one of the 30 top trade candidates available ahead of MLB's July 30 deadline. Here's what we wrote at the time:

When it comes right down to it, player evaluation's main goal is figuring out what comes next. Oftentimes, what a player has done can provide hints; sometimes, not so much. There are cases, and clearly we mean like Kopech's, where teams will overlook meager or lacking topline performance in pursuit of glimmering innate traits. Kopech has struggled with walks and home runs dating back to last season, but we're confident some enterprising clubs will view him as a worthy buy-low candidate. Why? Because it seems to these eyes that he has a big-time arsenal that could lend itself to him serving as a late-inning stopper with the right supervision. Add in how he has an additional season of team control to get it right, and we expect his market to be more robust than you'd think.

Kopech, 28, entered Wednesday with a 5.31 ERA (78 ERA+) and a 2.26 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 39 frames this year. His numbers will look a little better come Thursday.