Orioles outfielder is first position player in MLB history to record a save

Twice this month, Orioles outfielder Stevie Wilkerson had been called on to pitch in relief during a blowout loss.

Wilkerson had done well, allowing one run in three innings of work, but those were low-stress situations.

On Thursday night (or Friday morning depending where you live), Wilkerson was called upon to pitch in a high-leverage situation. The Orioles scored a pair of runs in the top of the 16th inning against the Angels, but they were out of pitchers.

So on came Wilkerson and he slammed the door, retiring all three batters he faced on 14 pitches and getting the save. That’s noteworthy because no position player had ever recorded a save since the stat became official in 1969.

Wilkerson was the 10th Orioles pitcher of the night.

“I don’t have much of an approach out there,” Wilkerson told the Baltimore Sun. “ I tried to just keep it simple, keep it the same as last time, and just float that thing over the plate.”

They were floaters and the Angels hitters looked off kilter. The average velocity of Wilkerson’s pitches was 54.3 mph, per Sports Illustrated.

“Dr. Poo Poo comes in and does a great job getting three outs,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told the Sun about Wilkerson. “I’m hoping for three at-’em balls. It was below the hitting speed.”

Here is Wilkerson’s entire outing that ended the 6-hour, 18-minute game:

This story was originally published July 26, 2019 at 10:02 AM.