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Unselfish Cishek shining in setup role
- Updated: September 20, 2016
SEATTLE — With two outs in the eighth and the Astros putting runners on second and third after cutting the Mariners’ lead to 7-3 on Sunday, Seattle manager Scott Servais didn’t hesitate in going to his bullpen to fetch former closer Steve Cishek to face the troublesome Jose Altuve.
After two quick strikes, Altuve grounded out to third, Servais turned the game over to rookie closer Edwin Diaz in the ninth, and the Mariners had another crucial win. And Cishek got another quiet pat on the back from his skipper.
“You look up and the game is starting to get a little closer and then that little guy walks in the batter’s box and it’s like, ‘Wow. I can’t believe we got to this spot,'” Servais said. “But Shrek did a great job. He’s had pretty good success against Altuve and he executed. It was good. We needed it.”
While Diaz has been a dominant force since taking over the closer’s role in early August, Cishek has been outstanding as well in adapting to a setup role. Since returning from the 15-day disabled list to quiet a slight tear in his right hip labrum, Cishek has posted a 1.74 ERA with 10 strikeouts, one walk and an opponent’s batting average of .189 in 10 1/3 innings.
Cishek signed with Seattle to be the closer, but the 29-year-old sidearmer understands his new situation completely.
“I’m all about us winning ballgames,” he said. “Edwin has been phenomenal, and I have no doubt that he’s going to get the job done. So my job is to set him up for the win, and I take a lot of pride in that. I’m working as hard as I can to be able to put us in that position for Edwin to be able to …
