runwaylights

Or is there a cross-post button when looking at a post? I haven't been able to find it yet.

It seemed an inauspicious beginning as Webb allowed back-to-back singles to Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll to open the game. But as it turned out, that was the only real threat the D-backs mounted against the Giants' ace.

Webb got out of the first inning unscathed with two forceouts and a strikeout, then kept the D-backs off the bases until the seventh inning, when Christian Walker drew a one-out walk -- and was subsequently picked off. In all, Webb allowed just three baserunners and struck out five.

Webb's 19 consecutive outs against the D-backs were a career high, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. His previous record was 16 straight at Coors Field on May 18, 2022.

Cijntje (pronounced SAIN-ja) is a Mississippi State sophomore who can pitch baseballs with both arms. He's a right-handed pitcher. He's also a left-handed pitcher. And he's only getting better at it as he gets older.

"I throw 99 from the right side," Cijntje said, quite matter-of-factly. "And from the left side, I top out at 95."

Cijntje's ambidexterity began back when he was 6 years old on the Caribbean shores of baseball-loving Curaçao.

He was born a left-hander, but he wanted to be a catcher -- like his dad Mechangelo -- who played professionally in the Netherlands. Left-handed catchers are almost as rare as ambidextrous pitchers. So, he began working on the strength and accuracy of his right arm. With tires and screws.

"We were just hanging out one time in the backyard," Cijntje remembered. "And my dad grabbed a ball and put a screw in it. So, when I threw the ball, the ball would get stuck in the tire. I was just throwing the ball with the screw in it and I think that developed my arm. It didn't actually take long for me to just start throwing with my right arm. ... It became almost natural."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14420841

PHOENIX -- The stars were out, the streets were quiet and Hayden Wesneski was fast asleep when he heard a knock on his bedroom door. It was his roommate and Triple-A Iowa teammate Matt Mervis, entering to tell Wesneski to check his phone. Wesneski was being called up. It was 1 a.m. in Des Moines.

Fourteen hours later, the 26-year-old Cubs right-hander stood in the visiting clubhouse at Chase Field, sleep-deprived but flush with adrenaline. He’d gotten some shuteye -- at least as much as one can get on a plane -- but he’d also just gotten 12 crucial outs. With Chicago’s bullpen also running on fumes, Wesneski had shut down a talented Diamondbacks offense for four scoreless innings to secure a 5-3, series-clinching win.

“It was probably our best pitching performance of the year,” said Cubs manager Craig Counsell.

It certainly was clutch. After two consecutive extra-inning games, and 10 2/3 innings from the relievers, the Cubs began the day desperate for fresh arms, which is why Wesneski and reliever Colten Brewer were summoned from Triple-A on such short notice. Wesneski arrived at the park roughly two hours before game time, low on rest but with the knowledge that he’d almost assuredly pitch. When Cubs starter Jordan Wicks left with one out in the fifth, Counsell went to Wesneski.

Over the next four innings, the righty stifled a Diamondbacks lineup that had scored 12 runs the night before. Relying primarily on a sweeper and a fastball that topped 97.5 mph, Wesneski allowed only one hit, a one-out double to Randal Grichuk in the sixth, and walked none. He struck out two and allowed only two balls to leave the infield. Counsell rode him all the way to the ninth inning -- a stretch during which the Cubs managed to take a three-run lead -- finally pulling the reliever after Grichuk popped out to start the final frame.