NEW YORK -- Danny Salazar quickly shuffled down the dugout steps and picked up a baseball that was resting on the visitors' bench at Fenway Park. He spun the ball in his right hand and then positioned it just so, with "Major League Baseball" in bold type between his index and middle fingers.
"This is the grip I'm using this year," Salazar explained earlier this week.
Salazar was showing how he has slightly altered the way he holds his two-seam fastball, which has become a more reliable and relied-upon weapon for the starter this season.