Kyle Seager was asked before Thursday’s series opener against the Boston Red Sox what it’s like to face a knuckleball pitcher.
A look of horror crossed the face of the Seattle Mariners third baseman.
“Is that tonight?” Seager asked.
Told the Mariners wouldn’t be facing Steven Wright until Saturday’s game in Seattle Josh Allen Jersey , Seager exhaled.
“Wow, don’t scare me like that,” said Seager, who could be excused for losing track as his wife is expecting their third child.
Seager said he has faced knuckleballers Wright, R.A. Dickey and Tim Wakefield during his career. He is 2-for-6 against Wright.
“It’s just a difficult pitch, one you don’t see that often,” Seager said. “They all throw it a little different; it goes all over the place. It can be fun, you just have to laugh at it a little bit.”
Mariners first baseman Ryon Healy, whose locker is next to Seager’s in the home clubhouse at Safeco Field, said he got his first major-league hit off Dickey.
“My hitting coach said don’t worry about your approach,” said Healy, who was with the Oakland Athletics at the time. “Just swing and hope it’s in the strike zone.”
Wright (2-0, 1.21 ERA) is 2-1 with a 1.32 ERA is three career appearances against the Mariners, including one start.
This will be Wright’s third start of the season. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in the previous two. He post a 6-0 victory over Detroit on June 5 in which he allowed two hits in seven innings with three walks and six strikeouts. He gave up four hits in 6 2/3 innings in a no-decision on Monday at Baltimore, when he walked three and struck out five in a 2-0 Jawaan Taylor Jersey , 12-inning Red Sox victory.
“Out of the bullpen he was lights out, and then these past two starts have been pretty unreal,” Red Sox utility man Brock Holt told NESN. “That knuckleball dances around. It’s funny when you’re playing defense behind him and guys get on, they let you know how much it moves. It’s a difficult pitch to hit and he’s been able to throw strikes with it.”
Wright hasn’t allowed a run in his past 22 2/3 innings, the longest active streak in the majors.
“The thing with knuckleballs is people think you throw just one knuckleball, but the thing is, they’re big-league hitters,” Wright said. “The biggest thing is timing, and a pitcher’s got to disrupt their timing. So, for me, especially as a starter … I really just try to go back and forth with the velocity.”
The Mariners are scheduled to start left-hander Wade LeBlanc (2-0, 3.00), who has a 6.00 ERA but no decisions in two career starts against Boston.
LeBlanc, in his second stint with the Mariners, hasn’t lost in 16 starts for Seattle Josh Oliver Jersey , tied for the fifth-longest such streak for a pitcher starting his tenure with a team in the live-ball era. LeBlanc is tied with former San Francisco starter Noah Lowry (2004-05), trailing only the New York Yankees’ Whitey Ford (22 starts in 1950-53), Montreal’s Kirk Rueter (22, 1993-94), Cincinnati’s Brooks Lawrence (18, 1956) and the Yankees’ Jim Coates (17, 1959-60).
Neither Jarrod Dyson nor Justin Upton could tell whether Upton’s bases-loaded line drive to the deepest part of center field would have made it out of Angel Stadium.
Dyson made sure nobody will ever know with a leaping, lunging catch that might have saved a win for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Paul Goldschmidt hit an early two-run homer and Zack Greinke pitched into the seventh inning of the Diamondbacks’ 12th victory in 16 games in June, 7-4 over the struggling Los Angeles Angels on Monday night.
Dyson had an early RBI single, and he prevented at least a couple of runs in the seventh with his catch on a possible grand slam by Upton. The nimble outfielder made it look relatively easy, turning Upton’s shot into a 390-foot sacrifice fly.
”It was real sweet to take four off the board like that,” Dyson said. ”I don’t know if it was going to go over, but if I didn’t catch it, there was going to be more than one baserunner scoring.”
Greinke (6-5) gave up back-to-back homers by Upton and Albert Pujols in the fourth, but the Diamondbacks backed him with six early runs Deandre Baker Jersey , responding well after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth inning of a home loss to the Mets on Sunday.
Greinke left after giving up Kole Calhoun’s one-out single in the seventh with a 6-2 lead. Two more Angels reached base against Yoshihisa Hirano before Dyson dramatically tracked down Upton’s full-count drive to the wall.
”I knew I hit it hard, and it was going to be at least off the wall,” Upton said with a grimace. ”He was in good position, and he’s fast, and he just got it. … I did my job. I hit the ball on the barrel, and I thought I had a home run. That’s baseball.”
Mike Trout nearly pulled his own leaping feat moments later, but Nick Ahmed’s homer glanced off his glove on the way over the center-field fence in the eighth for Arizona’s final run in its ninth win in 11 games.
”He’s one of a kind,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said of Dyson, who thinks he has taken away at least three potential homers by opponents this season. ”You just appreciate every play he makes, every little thing he does.”
Ketel Marte also homered and Jeff Mathis had a two-run double for the Diamondbacks.
Trout had two singles and two walks for the Angels, who have lost seven of eight to fall well out of playoff position in the AL.
Upton – the Diamondbacks’ No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft – and Pujols connected to start the fourth for the Angels’ first back-to-back homers since last August.
”I think we have the makings to go on a run,” manager Mike Scioscia said. ”We’re still a good club, and we’ll just focus on (Tuesday’s) game.”
Arizona led 2-0 after two batters in its first game at Angel Stadium since June 2015. Goldschmidt followed Jon Jay’s leadoff single with his 15th homer, giving him 26 hits in his last 51 at-bats during another torrid stretch for the Diamondbacks’ cornerstone.
TROUT’S TIME
Trout leads the majors with 62 walks and is batting .439 in June, but he didn’t score a run. He also was caught stealing for the first time in 14 attempts this season by Mathis.
BARRIA BLUES
Jaime Barria (5-3) yielded six hits and six runs in four innings for the Angels. The 21-year-old Panamanian rookie lost his second straight start after winning five of his first seven in the majors. ”Obviously http://www.newyorkgiantsteamonline.com/oshane-ximines-jersey , I wasn’t locating my fastball,” he said.
BIG SAVE
Archie Bradley got four outs for his third save. He threw 19 consecutive fastballs before his first off-speed pitch, and Upton grounded it into a double play for the first two outs of the ninth.
ALBERT’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Pujols’ homer was the 626th of his career, pulling him closer to Ken Griffey Jr. (630) for sixth place on baseball’s career list. Pujols scored the 1,751st run of his career, tying Jimmie Foxx for 21st place.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: OFs Steven Souza Jr. (strained pectoral) and A.J. Pollock (broken thumb) are making progress in their recoveries, but aren’t cleared for full baseball activity.
Angels: After batting .145 before his injury, Calhoun went 2 for 3 in his return from a nine-game absence with a strained right oblique muscle. Even with Calhoun back, the Angels have 13 players on their disabled list, including nine pitchers. … Right-handed reliever Jim Johnson played catch. He is out with back stiffness. … RHP Garrett Richards is playing catch, but still resting his left hamstring strain.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: Matt Koch (5-3, 4.09 ERA) is 3-0 in four starts since May 22. He has never faced the Angels.
Angels: Relief pitcher Felix Pena (0-0, 10.13 ERA) is expected to make his first start of the season while Los Angeles patches a hole in its injury-plagued rotation. The offseason acquisition has been up and down from Triple-A Salt Lake, never earning a regular spot in the bullpen.
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