As the Seattle Mariners make a push to earn one of the American League’s Wild Card spots, they got one impressive outing from rookie pitcher George Kirby who threw seven innings against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night, making some Major League Baseball history in the process.
The 24-year-old rookie was on fire from the start on Wednesday, setting a new MLB record with 24 consecutive strikes to open the game. Kirby’s consecutive strikes total topped the previous mark set by Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove in 2018.
“It just sets you up for the whole at-bat,” Kirby told reporters after the game, according to Fox News. “I mean, if you get strike one, the hitter has got to protect five pitches now. Just attack. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole life. I really try and just hammer the corners, just really quality strikes, that’s kind of what I’ve been focused on. Sometimes, you throw one down the middle.”
Kirby said his approach was simply to go out on the mound and attack the strike zone; he didn’t want to pitch around any hitters.
“I was like, ‘I’m the guy for it,'” Kirby said. “They’ve been preaching it since Day 1, and it’s something that I’ve really held true to myself. I just go out there and attack. You can’t do too bad just throwing strikes. That’s the name of the game now.”
The Mariners ultimately lost 3-1 to the Nationals, but it was an undeniably impressive outing from the rookie pitcher regardless.
[Fox News]
