MLB Pitcher Makes History, First to Record 4 Saves in 4-Game Sweep in 14 Years
In their weekend sweep of the Houston Astros, the Seattle Mariners got a record-setting performance from closer Edwin Diaz.
Diaz accomplished something that only four other pitchers in MLB history have accomplished — he saved all four games of the weekend sweep.
The Increasingly Efficient Edwin Díaz
Number of pitches he threw in his four saves in four days in the @Mariners' sweep of Houston:
13. 12. 11. 10.
When you keep your pitch counts that low, throwing four days in a row isn't all that impossible.
— Brent Stecker (@BrentStecker) August 12, 2018
The last player to do that was Joe Nathan, who did it for Minnesota in a 2004 sweep of the Tigers, reported ESPN.
Before that the Yankees John Wetteland did it in 1996 against the Orioles, the Pirates Kent Tekulve did it in 1978 against the Astros, and the Red Sox’s Sparky Lyle did it against the A’s 1970.
On Sunday, the Mariners snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Ryon Healy hit a game-tying home run off Hector Rendon.
Diaz came on in the bottom of the 10th to lock down the win, even though Diaz wasn’t supposed to pitch in the game.
“I got a welcomed call from our closer. He said, ‘If we got the lead, I’m in the game.’ Sometimes you’ve got to do that. That’s kind of how Eddie’s wired and how this team is wired,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said, reported ESPN.
Edwin Díaz- "I called when Healy hit a homer, if we get the lead I can pitch today in the game"
1.98 ERA 46 Saves 100 strikeouts
You have got to love Edwin Díaz
— Gary Hill Jr. (@GaryHillJr) August 13, 2018
Diaz struck out Yuli Gurriel and Max Stassi, and after giving up a single to Alex Bregman, got Carlos Correa to hit a comebacker to the mound to end the game.
Diaz has 46 saves for the season, which is the most in baseball.
Edwin Diaz wasn't supposed to pitch today, having worked the last three days. But he told bullpen coach Brian Delunas late in the game to let manager Scott Servais know that if the Mariners took the lead, he wanted the ball.
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) August 12, 2018
With the sweep, the American League West became much more interesting.
The defending World Series champs saw their eight-game lead over Seattle cut in half. Meanwhile, the surprising Oakland A’s took two of three from the Angels to creep to within 2.5 games of Houston. The A’s have won 8 of their last 10 games.
Whether or not either the A’s or Mariners catch Houston remains to be seen, but if they don’t, they are still locked in a battle for the second AL wildcard spot.
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