Marisnick makes incredible grab before exiting
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HOUSTON -- Gerrit Cole, eyes wide open, threw up his arms in astonishment. Cole placed his glove atop his bright orange hat and rested his hands on it, shocked that Jake Marisnick saved his outing from blowing up in the sixth inning of the Astros' 5-2 loss to the Mariners on Friday at Minute Maid Park.
After Seattle had already scored twice in the sixth, and with Mitch Haniger on second base and Denard Span on first, Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager drilled a ball to a spot in left-center field only one Astros player on the roster had a chance at catching.
"When I hit it, I didn't even see him," Seager said. "I was pretty excited going down the line, but I got un-excited pretty quick. That was a nice play."
The Mariners tagged Cole with two runs in the sixth inning and, with Marisnick patrolling center, Seattle's window for a third run shut as quickly as the Astros' outfielder closed in on the final out of the inning.
"Off the bat, I didn't see it great," Marisnick said. "Then I was able to get over there and stretch it out and save a couple of runs off Gerrit, which was huge."
Marisnick used every inch of his 6-foot-4 frame to cover 64 feet in 3.9 seconds, according to Statcast™'s description of the jaw-dropping play.
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"The catch was one of the best you'll see," Astros manager AJ Hinch said. "I feel like I say that every time with Jake, because you're going to see a highlight reel [catch]."
Marisnick's night was soon over following his spectacular catch. He abruptly left the game after he doubled down the left-field line in the seventh inning. The Astros' training staff quickly came on to the field to examine Marisnick, who was grimacing after reaching second base. He exited the game with left groin discomfort and was replaced by Derek Fisher.
After the game, Marisnick said he's a little sore, and with outfielder George Springer already on the 10-day DL, the Astros felt it was best to exercise caution and remove Marisnick.
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"It's kind of just something that grabbed me a little bit," Marisnick said. "It's more something that scares you [more] than it's painful. With where we're at, they felt it was better to get me out of there than pressing."