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Twenty-seven up, 27 down. That's what Red Sox closer Koji Uehara has done over his last nine appearances. The right-hander has thrown a "hidden" perfect game for Boston, retiring each of the last 27 batters he's faced.
The last hitter to reach base against Uehara was Yankees first baseman Lyle Overbay, who clubbed a double way back on August 17. Uehara has retired the last 27, 34 of the last 35, 53 of the last 57, and 89 of the last 99 hitters he's faced. That's incredible.
With his perfect inning on Friday, Uehara now has a 0.59 WHIP in 64 1/3 innings this season. The lowest WHIP ever by a pitcher who threw at least 60 innings in a season is 0.61 by Dennis Eckersley in 1990, when he threw 73.1 innings. Craig Kimbrel's 0.65 WHIP last year is the second lowest ever.
A "hidden" perfect game is simply a stretch of 27 consecutive outs regardless of whether they are spread out across multiple appearances. Cardinals right-hander Shelby Miller threw one on May 10 against the Rockies, when he allowed a single to the first batter of the game before retiring the next 27 straight for the complete-game win.
