M’s reliever Vincent on a roll even he can’t explain

Published 1:30 am Monday, July 17, 2017

By Bob Dutton

The News Tribune

HOUSTON — Even Nick Vincent isn’t sure why what’s working is working.

There’s no new pitch. No magical mechanical tweak. No change in pitch rotation or approach. None of that. Vincent is simply on a roll with seven straight scoreless outings and 23 in his last 24 appearances entering the Seattle Mariners’ Monday game in Houston.

In a Mariners bullpen that keeps tightening the screws, nobody is more lockdown these days than Vincent, who sports a club-low 1.86 earned-run average in a club-leading 40 appearances.

“It’s just working,” he said. “Stick with it. When you’re rolling good, you stick with your thing and throw whatever the catcher puts down.”

Vincent delivered a one-two-three inning in each of the three victories in the weekend sweep over the White Sox in Chicago. He got his 12th and 13th holds in the victories on Friday and Saturday before gaining the victory on Sunday.

It’s getting hard not to take him for granted. As manager Scott Servais noted simply after Sunday’s victory: “And, again, Nick Vincent, under the radar, does a great job.”

The whole bullpen did a great job over the weekend in limiting the White Sox to one run and five hits in 14 innings. The relief corps sports a 2.61 ERA over its last 48 games.

Vincent admits his confidence has never been higher — and why not? He is 2-0 with 12 holds and an 0.86 ERA (two earned runs in 20 innings) over his last 24 outings.

“Oh, definitely,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a hitter or a pitcher, when you’re rolling, you’re feeling good. It’s like (Saturday) night. A ball got hit hard, but a guy was there to catch it. It’s like things are going my way right now.

“Hopefully, it keeps going for the rest of the season.”