Robert Stephenson’s third pitch of his warmups for Friday night’s game against the Pirates was a split-fingered fastball that barely made it to the dirt in front of home plate.
That’s when Tucker Barnhart knew.
“I thought, 'oh boy, it's going to be a long night,’ ” Barnhart said afterward.
It was a long night for the Pirates hitters against Stephenson, who went on to strike out the first six batters he faced in the game, a new modern-day franchise record according to Elias Sports Bureau.
“It was pretty cool,” Stephenson noted about his start.