HOUSTON — Leave it to grandma.
Early in the week, Mariners rookie relief pitcher Carson Smith was only peripherally aware that he was closing in on the franchise record for scoreless innings to start his career.
Smith had pitched one-third of an inning in Monday’s 3-1 victory at Texas when he met his grandparents in the tunnel outside of the visitors’ clubhouse at Globe Life Park.
“My grandma told me after the game ‘I wish you had stayed in there to get those last couple of outs,’” Smith said. “I said, ‘What do you mean?’ Then she started to speak of the streak. She’s a big fan. Then my grandfather quickly made her stop … and I was aware of what she was talking about.
“My grandfather is a big baseball guy. He said, ‘No, you don’t talk about that. You don’t mention (streaks). So we’ll leave it at that.’ At that point, I kind of knew I was getting close.”
Smith got the record in Thursday’s 3-2 loss at Houston by pitching a one-two-three eighth inning. That boosted his career total to 18? scoreless innings in 20 appearances.
Both are club records.
Those three outs Thursday moved Smith past Mark Lowe, who began his career in 2006 with 17? scoreless innings. Lowe is currently pitching at Triple-A Tacoma.
Smith broke the club record for scoreless games earlier in the year. It had been 13 by Lowe (2006) and Tim Davis (1994). Smith’s run of 20 in a row is tied for the third-longest streak in major-league history.
Now his grandma can track his run at the MLB record: 29 scoreless games to start a career by Brad Ziegler in 2008 at Oakland. Ziegler currently pitches for Arizona (and has opened the season with 10 scoreless outings).
“That stuff, it’s great,” Smith said. “But what matters is getting outs day by day. It doesn’t matter what you did the day before.”
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