Tampa Bay Rays reliever Pete Fairbanks on Friday had a gripe over his grip on the baseball, blaming the humidor at Coors Field.
Fairbanks took issue with the variability of the balls after he issued three walks in the ninth inning, paving the way for Ryan McMahon’s walk-off grand slam as the Colorado Rockies rallied for a 10-7 victory in their home opener.
“They were horrible. You can mark that down in all caps for me — horrible,” Fairbanks said of the baseballs. “No excuse, though.”
Photo: AFP
The Rockies installed a humidor room at Coors Field in 2002 to control the moisture level in baseballs, which helps keep them from becoming dried out in Denver’s thin air.
It does take some getting used to. The Rays have not been in Mile High City for a series since 2016 and play at sea level at home.
“There’s definitely a difference. It’s definitely different,” said Rockies pitcher Peter Lambert, who threw two scoreless innings. “Sometimes, it can be a little more dry and the ball can feel a little more chalky, for sure.”
Photo: AFP
Fairbanks started the ninth by walking Jake Cave, Brendan Rodgers and Nolan Jones. In all, the right-hander threw 17 pitches — five for strikes — without getting an out.
He was replaced by Jason Adam, who struck out Kris Bryant before giving up the grand slam to McMahon.
“That’s what happens when you don’t throw strikes,” said Fairbanks, whose team rallied in the ninth from a four-run deficit to take a 7-6 lead. “You get punished for it. So I’d love to see those come out of the humidor [in game 2] in a little better shape before they get rubbed up, but there’s nobody to blame but myself for not being able to adjust to some of the quality issues.”
Asked if the baseballs were too wet or dry, Fairbanks said: “They were just overall bad. I’m not going to elaborate further than that.”
“They were not uniform from ball to ball,” he added. “Just dry, smooth, whatever you want to say.”
Elsewhere on Friday, it was:
‧ Angels 6, Red Sox 8
‧ Braves 6, Diamondbacks 5
‧ Brewers 6, Mariners 5
‧ Cubs 9, Dodgers 7
‧ Giants 3, Padres 2
‧ Nationals 0, Phillies 4
‧ Pirates 2, Orioles 5
‧ Rangers 10, Astros 2
‧ Reds 2, Mets 3
‧ Royals 2, White Sox 1
‧ Tigers 5, Athletics 4
‧ Yankees 0, Blue Jays 3
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