Marlins pitcher had zero balks in seven seasons. Then had three in one at-bat Tuesday

In the first 303 appearances of Marlins pitcher Richard Bleier’s career he had never been called for a balk.

That changed in a big way Tuesday when three balks were called on Bleier ... while he was facing one batter.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Miami manager Don Mattingly told MLB.com. “The guy hasn’t balked in seven years and all of a sudden he has three on one hitter. It’s frustrating, that’s for sure. But at the end of the day, we got a win, so I’m not going to worry about it.”

The Marlins beat the Mets 6-4 and the game’s final run scored in the eighth inning with Bleier on the mound. With two outs, the Mets’ Jeff McNeil singled against Bleier, then came the balks while Pete Alonso was at the plate.

Sarah Langs of MLB.com shared a list of all the players in baseball history to be called for three balks in an inning. It’s not a long list.

Thanks to Baseball Reference, there are game logs for everyone on that list except Sweeney in 1885. The others did not have three balks called while facing one batter, so Bleier is the first pitcher in at least 137 years to have that happen.

Mattingly and Bleier were both ejected for arguing the balks.

“In the beginning, he said I didn’t come (to a stop), which I clearly disagreed with,” Bleier told MLB.com. “It’s the same move I’ve been doing my entire career. I have never been called for a balk ever. The first one, which I don’t think was a balk, I watched the video. After that, they were clearly not balks. Words cannot describe what just happened in that inning.”