Kirk McCarty Saves Guardians In Bullpen Game
Playing 10 games in 11 days right out of the All-Star Break is going to quickly catch up with any team. Throw in an injured starting pitcher (Aaron Civale in this case) in that recipe and that could easily be a disaster.
Konnor Pilkington was unable to pitch tonight because he went in game two of the doubleheader back against the White Sox on Saturday. This forced the Guardians to designate tonight as an all-hands-on-deck bullpen game.
Overall, they did a great job holding the disappointing but dangerous Red Sox lineup to only 3 runs. The story of the night was easily Kirk McCarty going out and having the best outing of his career.
He pitched four innings, struck out four batters, and didn't allow a single run. At one point in the night, he even sent down nine straight Red Sox batters.
A manager never knows what they are going to have in a bullpen game. It's a lot of different pitchers on the mound and it only takes one or two innings for the game to get completely out of hand. But McCarty came in and shut the game down.
McCarty has had a wild ride the last month. He made a start for the Guardians against the Yankees and didn't look too bad in that outing despite the loss. Then he was designated for assignment by the team before he found his way back. For him to come in tonight and pitch that well must be a great feeling for him!
It's also a great feeling for Tito, Carl Willis, and the rest of the pitching staff that they only had to use five pitchers tonight!
After the game Francona said "[He] was tremendous! He went right through the middle of that game and quieted it down and did just what he needed to do."
Tito put it perfectly! McCarty got the job done and saved this bullpen from having to use up all of their pitchers will be a big factor as the Guardians still have two more games against the Red Sox.
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