The second the stats of his scoreless streak were read back to him, Kevin Shackelford couldn’t help but pay homage to one of baseball’s more prevalent superstitions.
“This is always the jinx moment,” said the Cincinnati Reds rookie right-hander.
Baseball jinxes are baloney, but the strong run the 28-year-old Shackelford is on is for real. In his last eight appearances, spanning eight innings, he’s been a lockdown reliever. He hasn’t allowed a run or a walk, and batters are hitting just .185 against him. He has nine strikeouts in that span, has excelled at producing grounders and has thrown 70 percent of his pitches for strikes.