Julio Rodríguez has to be okay.
Everything else stopped in the bottom of the 1st as George Kirby struggled with his command and earned a walk to the mound from Cal Raleigh. While the meeting on the mound unfolded, the outfielders converged, and Julio began to express discomfort with his lower back, something he’d missed a few days with recently as he grappled with the longest professional season of his young career. His removal, even with a 3-0 lead that he’d sparked on the first pitch of the game with a double, was a a pallor over the entire proceedings.