Pittsburgh Pirates closer Jason Grilli left Monday night's game against the Washington Nationals with an apparent arm injury, reports Brady McCollough of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Jason Grilli injury: Pittsburgh Pirates closer leaves game with apparent arm injury
The closer was forced to leave the game during the middle of an at-bat, and looked to be in significant pain.
Mike Ehrmann
The Pirates brought in Grilli to close during the ninth inning of a 6-3 game. The closer surrendered two runs in the inning, but managed to record two outs before facing Steve Lombardozzi with the tying run on second base.
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Grilli threw a fastball to Lombardozzi, but immediately called for the trainers after the pitch and looked to be in significant pain, according to Amanda Comak of the Washington Times. Vin Mazzaro replaced Grilli, and forced Lombardozzi to hit a game-ending groundout.
For the superstitious, Grilli appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated last week, the first Pirates player to appear on the cover in 21 years, according to the MLB PR Department:
Jason Grilli (@GrillCheese49) is on the cover of this week's @SINow, the 1st for #Pirates in 21 years. pic.twitter.com/3Pm5ALF4Nn
— MLB Public Relations (@MLB_PR) July 17, 2013
Grilli has thrived in the closer role this season, as he entered Monday with 30 saves in 31 chances and a 1.94 ERA. Mark Melancon will likely serve as the team's closer if Grilli is forced to miss an extended period of time.
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