PHOENIX — Right-hander Yoshihisa Hirano has been spectacularly efficient in his first season in Arizona Youth Ryan Shazier Jersey , part of the reason the Diamondbacks will enter their four-game series against the San Diego Padres with the best bullpen ERA in the majors.
Hirano may be a major league rookie, but his work the last five seasons as a closer with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan has translated well.
Hirano, 34, had a franchise-record 26-game scoreless streak broken in an 8-4 loss to St. Louis on Wednesday, when he finished one scoreless appearance short of tying former Red Sox right-hander Koji Uehara for the longest such streak by a Japanese-born pitcher in major league history. Even that loss could not diminish the value Hirano has had this season.
Arizona right-hander Shelby Miller is scheduled to face San Diego left-hander Eric Lauer in the first game of the series Thursday.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo was Boston’s bench coach when Uehara set the record in 2013, so he can provide a comparison of Uehara and Hirano.
“They have the same work habits, which is pretty impressive,” Lovullo said. “They both come in and get their work done pregame. They come in and get their work done postgame. They find themselves healthy and strong and prepared for every single one of their outings.
“They both have a fearlessness to their game and an approach to understanding what needs to happen during each at-bat. They are not afraid to put the ball on the plate with two different pitches. They go out and expect to get outs. Very similar mind-set. Very similar makeup. Very similar confidence.”
Hirano is 2-0 with a 1.43 ERA in 42 appearances. He has 19 holds, fourth in the majors, and he has permitted only one of his 16 inherited runners to score while being primarily used in the seventh inning. Eighth-inning reliever Archie Bradley leads the majors with 22 holds and closer Brad Boxberger has 20 saves.
Uehara began the 2013 season in a similar setup role in the Boston bullpen before advancing to the closer’s role after injuries thinned the relief corps. He finished with 21 saves, a 1.09 ERA and an 0.57 WHIP.
“As soon as he became the closer, he gave off a certain edge and a certain confidence that was noticeable,” Lovullo said.
“It’s as close to a slam dunk Authentic Tyler Eifert Jersey , shut-down ninth-inning save as I’ve ever seen. He had this ability to collect outs and get through innings in 12 pitches or less. It was so quick, the ninth inning was over before it even started. It was a very comfortable setting for all of us. You played the Boston Red Sox in 2013 for eight innings because the ninth inning was over. That’s what I remember.”
Hirano has a 1.01 WHIP, fourth among major league relievers with at least 40 appearances.
“He’s been very versatile,” Lovullo said. “He’s unfazed by any role we have asked him to do. He can pitch in traffic. He can start clean innings. He can get left-handers and right-handers out.”
The Diamondbacks lost two of three to St. Louis and have dropped five of their past six games overall. They took two out of three games in their only other series against the Padres this season, also at Chase Field.
San Diego has slumped over the last 2 1/2 weeks. The Padres have lost three in a row and are 3-13 since beating Atlanta 9-3 behind left-hander Clayton Richard on June 15. They have scored 30 runs in their last 10 games.
“We’re not getting hits with runners in scoring position,” San Diego manager Andy Green told reporters after a two-game sweep in Oakland.
“Sometimes the best thing you can do is relax, go play baseball and enjoy what you’re doing. Then the hits start coming.”
Christian Villanueva hit his 17th homer for the Padres in a 4-2 loss to the A’s Wednesday.
Miller is 0-2 with an 11.42 ERA in two starts this season after returning from a 14-month absence following Tommy John surgery in last May, 2017. He has given up 15 hits and 11 runs in 8 2/3 innings.
Miller is 2-2 with a 4.54 ERA in eight career appearances, including seven starts, against the Padres. He had a strong outing against them early last season, giving up four hits and one run in 7 1/3 innings in the third of his four starts before suffering the elbow injury.
Rookie Lauer joined the Padres’ rotation in late April and is 3-5 with a 5.08 ERA in 13 starts this season. He was 2-2 with a 2.76 ERA in six June starts and is 1-2 with a 5.09 ERA in seven road starts.
He has never faced the Diamondbacks.
Police responded to several nonviolent disputes at the home where Buffalo Bills star LeSean McCoy was attempting to evict his former girlfriend before an unidentified man bloodied the 34-year-old woman in a home invasion, according to reports released Thursday.Police responded early Tuesday to the home in Milton, just outside Atlanta Youth JuJu Smith-Schuster Jersey , after McCoy's ex-girlfriend Delicia Cordon called 911. The reports from Milton police show that officers had previously been called to the home in July 2017 and in April and June of this year, but no violence was reported during any of those incidents.
In a recording released Thursday of Cordon's 911 call she can be heard describing her alleged attacker to a dispatcher and saying she believed the attack was connected with her ex-boyfriend.
"My face is demolished right now," Cordon said during the call.
A man entered the home around 3 a.m. Tuesday and demanded specific pieces of jewelry that McCoy had given to Cordon and that he had asked her to give back many times, Cordon's lawyer Tanya Mitchell Graham said in an emailed statement Tuesday.
McCoy had often suggested to Cordon that she "could be robbed because the jewelry was expensive," the statement said.
The man tried to take bracelets from her wrist, leaving bruises, and hit her in the face multiple times with a gun, the lawyer said. Cordon's cousin was also hurt when she was hit in the back of the head.
"He just kept asking for jewelry. I think it's got something to do with my ex-boyfriend because my ex-boyfriend and I are," Cordon said before being cut off by the dispatcher asking if she needed medical help.
McCoy, who turned 30 on Thursday, is preparing to enter his fourth season with the Bills. He spent his first six seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he led the NFL in yards rushing in 2013 before being traded to Buffalo in 2015.
He took to social media Tuesday to deny a wide range of allegations posted earlier in the day by a woman who appeared to be friends with Cordon, accusing him of hurting his former girlfriend. McCoy has since hired prominent Atlanta criminal defense attorney Don Samuel.
Fulton County Magistrate Court records show that McCoy initiated eviction proceedings against Cordon on July 3 Golden Tate Jersey White , 2017, saying that the pair were no longer in a relationship. Court records show two attempts to serve Cordon with the document but no other action.
That evening, police responded to a report of a domestic dispute at the home, according to a police report. Cordon wasn't there when officers got there, but they spoke to McCoy, who told them he and Cordon had broken up and had been having issues.
Cordon had had been accusing him of cheating on her and had posted on social media about that and their breakup, McCoy told police. He also said Cordon had failed to return jewelry lent to them by jewelers for events despite multiple requests.
He told police he had started eviction proceedings against Cordon and was trying "to be very careful about being around her given the climate of domestic abuse in his profession." He told police he would bring Cordon's things, which were piled on the driveway, back inside.
Cordon came home while police were there and also told officers the relationship was over. She said she had nowhere else to go and would be staying at the home.
Shortly before midnight April 11, police again responded to a domestic dispute at the home. Dispatchers reported that "the callers had everything worked out, but it sounded a little heated over the phone," a police report says.
McCoy and Cordon separately told an officer they had worked everything out and the argument hadn't been physical. Cordon told the officer she had called because McCoy was moving some furniture out of the house that she wanted to keep.
Cordon called police from Virginia on June 1 to say she saw people removing things from the home through security cameras that she could monitor on her cellphone, a police report says. McCoy was also out of town.
When police arrived Womens Andy Dalton Jersey , they spoke to McCoy's mother who said her son was moving out and had asked her to get his stuff so he wouldn't have to deal with Cordon, the report says. She said McCoy had said Cordon could stay in the house until it sold since she had two small children, but that he wanted his things.
Police said any disputes over belongings would have to be resolved in court, and movers left with just McCoy's clothing and shoes, the report says.
McCoy's friend, Tamarcus Porter, filed eviction proceedings against Cordon on McCoy's behalf on June 6. In a court filing challenging the eviction proceedings, Cordon's attorney said Cordon and McCoy had discussed marriage over Memorial Day weekend and that McCoy gave Cordon "a substantial gift" on May 29.
A hearing on the eviction proceedings is planned for a later date.
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