If the pressure of an MLB debut affected Matt Bush on Friday, he sure didn’t show it.
The 30-year-old Rangers rookie who was incarcerated just seven months ago, entered Friday’s game in the ninth inning with the Rangers trailing 5-0 and promptly retired the meat of the Blue Jays order in 17 pitches — 10 of which clocked in at 96 mph or faster.
Bush struck out the first batter of the inning, reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson, before getting Jose Bautista to pop out to second and Edwin Encarnacion to foul out to first. Those three batters combined for 120 home runs and 348 RBIs in 2015.