ST. PETERSBURG – Ken Griffey Jr. is not the only one falling asleep these days during Mariners games.
On Sunday, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Matt Garza fell asleep while actually pitching to the Seattle line-up. Facing a line-up that ranks near the bottom in almost every offensive statistical category, Garza managed to pitch to the Mariners while catching a nap in the middle of the game. Garza believes he fell asleep sometime during the second inning, and didn’t wake up until allowing a run to score in the sixth.
“I remember the first inning that is for sure, I was excited for the start of the game,” explained Garza. “However, next thing I know it is the sixth inning, we’re down 1-0, and (catcher) Dioner (Navarro) comes out the the mound telling me to wake up, and that I’ve been sleeping for nearly four innings”
Tampa Bay Manager Joe Maddon was impressed with his performance.
“I’ve seen a few players in my time in this game that I thought were good enough to play this game in their sleep, I didn’t think I’d ever actually see it done, that is simply amazing!”
Seattle players were baffled by Garza’s performance.
“We didn’t want to be rude and wake him up, that wouldn’t be nice. Besides, he was pitching one helluva game.” said catcher Josh Bard. “But Michael Sanders RBI in the sixth inning was a bit loud, and we accidentally woke him up.”
Garza was removed from the game after six innings with his team actually down 1-0, but the Rays were about to mount two late runs for the comeback win.
“I’m glad I didn’t get tagged with the loss in that one,” said Garza. “That may have looked bad.”
SEATTLE – When Ichiro Suzuki came flying down the line in the bottom of the 11th last Friday night in Seattle, the last thing he expected was batter Eric Byrnes to to take the pitch and pull the bat back in a failed suicide squeeze attempt. During a suicide squeeze attempt, the runner leaves from 3rd base when the pitcher starts his wind-up, and the hitter squares to bunt and tries to but the ball no matter where it is pitched. Failing to put the ball in play will 99% of the time cause the base runner to be out.
