It took Thomas Pannone all of 94 pitches to do something the minor leagues haven’t seen since 2017 — throw a solo nine-inning perfect game. Pitching for the Nashville Sounds (Milwaukee Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate) on Monday night, Pannone went the distance against the Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays’ Triple-A affiliate) in a 3-0 win, achieving perfection and immortality in a sport that craves it.
Thomas Pannone throws a perfect game!
The @Brewers southpaw strikes out eight for the Triple-A @nashvillesounds to log the Minors' first 9-inning single-pitcher perfecto since 2017. pic.twitter.com/sjBJWzKgbx
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 7, 2026Pannone’s efforts marked just the fifth perfect game in International League history and the first since 2011.Though the minors have seen several perfect games in recent years, all of them have either been combined efforts involving multiple pitchers or games ending in eight innings or fewer, sometimes both. Pannone represents the first full nine-inning solo venture since 2017, when a trio of pitchers (Tyler Mahle, Domenic Mazza and Connor Grey) did so for their organizations.
A ninth-round pick in 2013 out of the College of Southern Nevada, Pannone bounced around the minor leagues for several years, along with dealing with a PED suspension, before finally making his debut in 2018 for the Toronto Blue Jays. The debut was short-lived as Pannone managed just 12 games (six starts) and 43 innings, pitching to a 4.19 ERA.He had a longer runway in 2019, when he pitched in 37 games (seven starts), carding a 6.16 ERA in 73 innings. Pannone, however, continued to linger in the minors before pitching internationally in the Korean Baseball Organization in 2022 and 2023. He made his return to a major-league mound in 2023 as a member of the Brewers, pitching in just one game, and returned this season, also with a one-game appearance.At 32 years old and with the Brewers’ pitching corps largely accounted for, Pannone is unlikely to get another shot this season. For one day, however, he was perfect.
