Tampa Bay Rays reliever Pete Fairbanks on Friday had a gripe over his grip on the baseball, blaming the humidor at Coors Field.
Fairbanks took issue with the variability of the balls after he issued three walks in the ninth inning, paving the way for Ryan McMahon’s walk-off grand slam as the Colorado Rockies rallied for a 10-7 victory in their home opener.
“They were horrible. You can mark that down in all caps for me — horrible,” Fairbanks said of the baseballs. “No excuse, though.”
Photo: AFP
The Rockies installed a humidor room at Coors Field in 2002 to control the moisture level in baseballs, which helps keep them from becoming dried out in Denver’s thin air.
It does take some getting used to. The Rays have not been in Mile High City for a series since 2016 and play at sea level at home.
“There’s definitely a difference. It’s definitely different,” said Rockies pitcher Peter Lambert, who threw two scoreless innings. “Sometimes, it can be a little more dry and the ball can feel a little more chalky, for sure.”
Photo: AFP
Fairbanks started the ninth by walking Jake Cave, Brendan Rodgers and Nolan Jones. In all, the right-hander threw 17 pitches — five for strikes — without getting an out.
He was replaced by Jason Adam, who struck out Kris Bryant before giving up the grand slam to McMahon.
“That’s what happens when you don’t throw strikes,” said Fairbanks, whose team rallied in the ninth from a four-run deficit to take a 7-6 lead. “You get punished for it. So I’d love to see those come out of the humidor [in game 2] in a little better shape before they get rubbed up, but there’s nobody to blame but myself for not being able to adjust to some of the quality issues.”
Asked if the baseballs were too wet or dry, Fairbanks said: “They were just overall bad. I’m not going to elaborate further than that.”
“They were not uniform from ball to ball,” he added. “Just dry, smooth, whatever you want to say.”
Elsewhere on Friday, it was:
‧ Angels 6, Red Sox 8
‧ Braves 6, Diamondbacks 5
‧ Brewers 6, Mariners 5
‧ Cubs 9, Dodgers 7
‧ Giants 3, Padres 2
‧ Nationals 0, Phillies 4
‧ Pirates 2, Orioles 5
‧ Rangers 10, Astros 2
‧ Reds 2, Mets 3
‧ Royals 2, White Sox 1
‧ Tigers 5, Athletics 4
‧ Yankees 0, Blue Jays 3
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS