Mobile's De Horta tosses immaculate inning

It was an immaculate inning, and one Adrian De Horta won't soon forget for more than just that reason.
The right-handed Angels prospect made his Double-A debut Monday night and authored a nine-pitch, three-strikeout inning as the Mobile BayBears held off the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, 7-5, at Hank Aaron Stadium.

Gameday box score
A starter for most of his seven professional seasons, De Horta knew he might be summoned from the bullpen Monday.
"With the system we're running now, I expected to come in in relief," he said. "That was my role tonight and I'm perfectly fine with that."
BayBears starter Jose Rodriguez went 2 1/3 innings and Zac Ryan (1-1) lasted 1 2/3 innings before De Horta made his first relief appearance since Aug. 25, 2017 with Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore.
He entered in the fifth with the BayBears leading, 6-2. Jordan Gore stroked a leadoff double and scored on a base hit by 17th-ranked Minnesota prospectLuis Arraez. But De Horta struck out Brian Schales on three pitches before coaxing Taylor Grzelakowski to hit into an inning-ending, 4-6-3 double play.
"That's a good-hitting team over there," De Horta said. "They will make you pay for mistakes. At the same time, we limited the damage. Our guys played amazing defense. Rolling that double play really helped."
After pitching around a one-out walk to Mitchell Kranson in the sixth and inducing another double-play ball to end the frame, De Horta was back on the bump for the seventh. It would be a memorable 1-2-3 frame.
Ernie De La Trinidad took two called strikes before catcher Jack Kruger -- Los Angeles' No. 24 prospect -- gloved a foul tip for strike three. Caleb Hamilton swung and missed at three consecutive pitches for the second K. Finally, Gore went in the hole 0-2 on called strikes before whiffing on the third pitch to complete the nine-pitch immaculate inning.
"Yeah, that was wild," De Horta said. "All the credit goes to Kruger. I put all my trust in him, never shook him off."

De Horta admitted he did not realize the significance of the performance until he was walking to the dugout.
"I thought, 'Wait, was that nine pitches?' ... I was just focused on making good pitches," he said. "To be honest, I didn't think about it. That just blew my mind."
It was the first immaculate inning of his career at any level.
"No, never -- not even close," De Horta said of previously achieving such a feat. "When I got to the dugout, I had to get my emotions back. There was still a lot of ballgame to play. ... My focus was on the next pitch, to execute, to get an out."
De Horta exited after giving up a two-run homer to Hamilton in the ninth, giving way to Adam Hofacket, who earned his first save.
"I wanted to finish the game," said De Horta, who allowed three earned runs on four hits and three walks while striking out six over 4 1/3 innings. "That [home run] was frustrating. I left a changeup up. In Double-A, you don't get away with many [bad] pitches."
No. 3 Angels prospect Brandon Marsh singled, walked in a run and scored for the BayBears.