At 36 years of age, Zack Greinke’s best years are behind him, but he can still use his command and baseball IQ to get opposing hitters out.
Not only that, the Astros veteran pitcher has been known to try to get in his opponents’ heads, attempting to establish a mental edge, and use it against his competition.
But it doesn’t always work out in his favor. In fact, it backfired in a big way during Game 4 of the American League Division Series on Thursday.
Greinke was in his first jam of the game in the second inning, having given up consecutive singles to A’s hitters, with no outs. Ramon Laureano worked his way to a 3-2 count, and that’s when Greinke attempted to get in his head. The Astros pitcher showed Laureano two fingers, letting his opponent know it’d be curveball.
Well, he didn’t lie. It was a curveball, which Greinke hung, and Laureano hit into the stands for a three-run homer.
That move backfired in a big way, as the A’s jumped out to a 3-0 lead early as a result.
