For the third time in history, an MLB game featured a Jewish pitcher, catcher and batter at the same time.

Regardless of who was in the batter’s box, Jewish pitcher Max Lazar’s first career strikeout would have been a major accomplishment.

But as it was, that moment in Saturday night’s game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks was significant for those familiar with Jewish baseball history as well.

The batter who struck out Lazar in the bottom of the eighth inning, Diamondbacks outfielder Joc Pederson, is also Jewish. So is the player who gloved the pitch, Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs.

That meant Pederson’s at-bat became a rare trilogy in which the pitcher, catcher and batter were all Jewish. According to the Jewish Baseball Museum, Lazar’s strikeout of Pederson was just the third instance of a Jewish pitcher-catcher-batter combination in MLB’s 100-plus year history. It was also just the eighth instance of a Jewish pitcher-catcher combo.

The last Jewish trifecta occurred 11 years ago, almost on the exact same day, when Boston Red Sox reliever Craig Breslow — now the team’s chief baseball officer — struck out Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar on Aug. 15, 2013, with Ryan Lavarnway catching. The first Jewish trifecta occurred 62 years earlier — and ended much worse for the pitcher — when Detroit Tigers pitcher Saul Rogovin gave up a home run to Philadelphia Athletics first baseman Lou Limmer, with Joe Ginsberg catching.

Stubbs and Pederson, who played for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, are no strangers to Jewish baseball history. In 2021, the two, along with Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried and Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, played in what is likely the most Jewish World Series in baseball history, judging by the number of Jewish players.

In 2022, Stubbs formed a Jewish battery with Phillies pitcher and fellow Team Israel player Bubby Rossman, the last Jewish pitcher-catcher duo before Stubbs and Lazar on Saturday.

And earlier this season, Stubbs participated in another moment of Jewish baseball lore, when, coming on as a pitcher near the end of a blowout loss, he allowed a grand slam to Oakland Athletics second baseman Zack Gelof, who also played for Israel in 2023. According to the Jewish Baseball Museum, it was the first grand slam hit by a Jewish batter off a Jewish pitcher.

Lazar, 25, is a Florida native who had been one of the top relief pitchers in the minor leagues this season and was making his MLB debut in Saturday’s game. According to Jewish Baseball News, he is the 15th Jewish player to appear in the MLB this season.

Stubbs applauded Lazar’s performance, despite the Diamondbacks’ overwhelming 11-1 victory.

“I’m sure having Joc Pederson as the first strikeout guy is probably a nice thing to have on the shelf,” Stubbs said after the game. He didn’t mention the Jewish significance of the at-bat.