Kuzul

Seattle Mariners reliever Fernando Rodney seems to have a lot on his mind lately.

In the sixth inning against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday, Rodney took a stroll through the wilderness near the bullpen:

A man of nature, or a man who obeys the call of nature? We’ll likely never know.

What we do know, however, is that Rodney entered the game with a two-run lead in the ninth and allowed a pair of walks, hits and runs in just 0.1 innings. Rob Rasmussen had to relieve him with two outs in the ninth to bring the contest into extra innings.

The Mariners went on to lose, 7-5, in the 11th.

[Vine, Twitter]

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Anyone who grew up playing Little League has been Alex Wood at least once before.

With his Los Angeles Dodgers deadlocked at 1-1 with the Philadelphia Phillies in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday night, Wood reared back to deliver a full-count pitch to Odubel Herrera with runners on first and second. 

The ball flubbed out of the lefty’s hand completely and rolled toward first base. As players from both teams were confused, Carlos Ruiz alertly tried to score from second base. However, the umpires put their heads together and ruled it a balk.

The two runners advanced one base. Wood would then walk Herrera. 

With the bags jammed, Wood was removed from the game. Next up was Maikel Franco, who walloped a grand slam off Joel Peralta.

Philadelphia won 6-2.

[MLB]

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With his Cincinnati Reds clinging to a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning, center fielder Billy Hamilton got on his horse and made a leaping over-the-shoulder snag right in front of the warning track.

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jason Heyward would have easily had a extra-base hit if not for Hamilton’s heroics.

As a batter, sometimes all you can do is tip your cap. The Reds held on for a 3-2 win.

[MLB]

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Atlanta Braves outfielder Eury Perez did everything right. He tracked the ball, chased it down, dove and pointed his glove skyward to show the umpire.

Hold on, he missed a step—actually catching the ball.

Perez did get some leather on it, but the ball appeared to slip out once his glove hit the grass. This isn’t quite on Nick Young’s level, but it’s still pretty humbling for the 25-year-old.

[Vine]

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Cincinnati Reds left fielder Marlon Byrd bombed a ball to deep center field with no outs in the top of the second inning Saturday, but Cole Gillespie got on his horse and ran it down.

The Miami Marlins center fielder covered some serious ground to catch up with the ball and then hauled it in with an impressive over-the-shoulder snag before hitting the wall.

The 31-year-old was extremely smooth after the play—based on his facial expression, you would’ve thought that what he just did was commonplace.

[MLB]

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Alex Rodriguez wasn’t given a spot in the All-Star Game, but that hasn’t stopped the New York Yankees star from being generous.

After launching his 17th home run of the year off Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz on Friday, the 39-year-old slugger made a young fan’s day by giving him his batting gloves.

[MLB]

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Andrew McCutchen may be a grounds crew hero, but Justin Upton doesn’t care.

The San Diego Padres outfielder leaped way up over the left field fence to rob McCutchen of a two-run dinger in the bottom of the fifth inning on Tuesday night.

Almost as impressive as the actual snag was Upton’s catlike reflexes to come up firing.

All you can really do on this play is tip your cap.

[MLB]

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Cincinnati Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto is the man.

The long-haired hurler went the distance against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, allowing just two hits and racking up 11 strikeouts in a 5-0 shutout.

He did it with a little help from a shimmy in his windup that he calls the “rocking chair”:

Cueto is up for the National League All-Star Game Final Vote, meaning that there’s a chance we could see the “rocking chair” during the Midsummer Classic.

Cross your fingers, folks.

[Twitter]

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Members of the Pittsburgh Pirates grounds grew were firmly seated aboard the struggle bus before Andrew McCutchen dropped his mitt and helped out.

With roaring winds and torrential rain interrupting Tuesday’s game against the San Diego Padres, stadium workers tried to unroll a tarp as quickly as possible. It didn’t go well.

Things hit rock bottom when one crew member actually got swallowed up in it, which is when McCutchen and teammate Sean Rodriguez decided to hop in.

To keep the ship from sinking, looks like it’s all hands on deck for the Pirates:

[MLB, Twitter]

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Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant is a stud—a bona fide, 110 percent, absolute stud.

The 23-year-old superstar put on a fireworks show earlier than expected on Independence Day, as his team jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the second inning against the Miami Marlins. The righty bombed a two-run dinger in the first inning and then rocketed a grand slam in the second.

Wrigley Field got wild, and so did Twitter:

Bryant isn’t quite ready for Mount Rushmore, but the rookie is certainly playing like an American—er, National—hero.

[MLB.com, Twitter]

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