John Smoltz had a front-row seat to history that hadn’t been made since, well, him.
The former Atlanta Braves pitcher was on the Fox broadcast as the color commentator for Game 7 of the ALCS between the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays. So he got to see George Kirby make some history.
OptaStats shared this stat after Kirby departed the game:
“George Kirby of the @Mariners is the first MLB pitcher to allow 1 run or fewer in 2 separate winner-take-all starts in the same postseason since John Smoltz in 1991.”
The Mariners led 3-1 when they went to the bullpen on Monday after four solid innings from Kirby.
He also pitched a gem in Game 5 of the ALDS to take that series, outdoing Tigers ace Tarik Skubal.
Monday night was quite the bounceback for Kirby.
Earlier in the ALCS, the Blue Jays rocked him. He gave up eight runs.
There was reason to worry that would happen again in Game 7, but this Kirby was a different pitcher. The Blue Jays still made him work, but Kirby found ways to get outs.
If Seattle advances, Kirby will be called on again.
And right now, the right-hander has proved he’s got at least a little bit of a clutch gene.
