Jo-Jo Reyes throws one pitch, picks up win in first MLB appearance since 2011
Lost in the craziness that played out during the Angels wild come-from-behind 11-10 win in Texas is the even crazier story of Jo-Jo Reyes.
The 30-year-old left-hander, who started this season in the Mexican League, thought his season was over when the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees’ season ended on Sept. 7. He could not have been more wrong. On Saturday, he was on a major league hill pitching for the Angels with their season potentially on the line, and miraculously walked away the winner despite throwing only one pitch.
We told you this was wild.
Reyes was only added to the Angels roster on Wednesday after the team lost closer Huston Street and starter Matt Shoemaker to injury. He had not pitched in MLB since the 2011 season after struggling to live up to his potential. Obviously, he had not pitched in any type of game in 27 days. It wasn’t anticipated he’d pitch for the Angels, either, unless an emergency situation popped up.
Then Saturday happened. After starter Hector Santiago lasted just four innings and Mike Scioscia ran through six different relievers, Reyes was about the only option he had left in the eighth inning.
It was a dart throw, but the Angels backs were against the wall. They were down four runs. They were running out of players, and a season that was once promising seemed to be slipping away regardless of what buttons Scioscia pushed.
Then Reyes threw his one pitch of the game, and everything changed. After Prince Fielder lined out to shortstop, the Angels mounted a five-run ninth-inning to take the lead and at least temporarily save their season. That put Reyes in line for the unlikely win, and then it was his after Elvis Andrus slid past second base for the game’s final out.
The one-pitch win isn’t a true rarity in baseball. It’ll happen a handful of times during the course of an MLB season. There have even been instances where pitchers don’t throw a pitch at all, but still qualify for the win. The circumstances surrounding Reyes make his case pretty special though. He’s thrown one MLB pitch since 2011, and has the same number of wins.
It’s almost mind-blowing, but Reyes himself took it in stride, quickly giving credit to his teammates for making it possible.
“Right place, right time,” Reyes said. “These guys did all the work. I threw one pitch. It was one of the funnest games I’ve ever been a part of.”
It was one of the funnest and wildest games we’ve ever seen as well.
If the Angels somehow make the playoffs (they’ll need a win Sunday, an Astros loss and then a tiebreaker win on Monday) that one pitch will represent the one win that truly kept the Angels alive. If that’s all he contributes, it will have been huge. And it will also go down as one of the coolest and most unlikely moments of the season.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
