Mariners game briefly interrupted by bat boy sprinting to bring Joel Peralta his uniform
Saturday's Mariners-Astros game was a nail-biter: Seattle reliever Nick Vincent was trying to protect a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth, but all-world shortstop Carlos Correa stepped into the box as the tying run. Vincent and Correa went back and forth, eventually working a full count after six unbearably tense pitches. Something had to give. Vincent stared in, got the sign and prepared to deliver once again ...
... just, you know, right after the bat boy got done making a quick delivery to the bullpen:
No, he wasn't just getting in some quick in-game exercise. Rather, our intrepid hero was answering a call for help -- namely, reliever Joel Peralta's call for someone to bring him the right uniform so he could get ready to pitch. Peralta had on Seattle's normal road gray, while the rest of the team was in blue.
"I didn't know what was going on. I swear to God," Peralta MLB.com's Greg Johns. "They handed me the jersey, and I said, `What the heck is this?' Then I looked to the mound, and I figured it out that I had the wrong jersey on."
Luckily, manager Scott Servais took notice. "He'd worn his jacket out there, but when he got on the hill he had his jersey on," Servais said. "I just happened to look to make sure because Vincent was in the game, but we were going to go with Nuno and I wanted Peralta right behind him."
And, wouldn't you know, he ended up saving the day: After Vincent struck out Correa and Vidal Nuno got the next batter, Peralta was called on to the final out of the eighth, and Seattle would eventually go on to win in extras, 3-2. He will, however, continue to pay for this one.
"I fined myself $200," he said. "So it's not like I wanted to do this."