After making his Major League Baseball debut in impressive fashion on Monday night, former Tennessee Vol and Knoxville native Ben Joyce once again put together another efficient inning of work during his second time on the mound.
Joyce pitched the seventh inning with the Angels trailing the Houston Astros by a score of 4-2 in Texas. The 6-foot-5 pitcher only needed 10 pitches as he found the three outs against four batters.
Yanier Diaz was the first batter that stared down the impressive rookie on the mound, quickly heading back to the dugout after flying out on a 102 MPH first pitch. Then came Jose Altuve, an eight-time all-star and former AL MVP.
Two swings and misses would send a puzzled Altuve back to the dugout. Joyce went 102 MPH, 102 MPH, and 101 MPH to record the second out of the inning.
Ben Joyce incinerating Altuve. 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/xGBuhQqOvc
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 2, 2023
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Jeremy Pena was up next, who reached first base on an infield single to shortstop after three straight 101 MPH fastballs came his way.
The Astros didn’t have much luck with the fourth batter through, as Yordan Alvarez fouled off a 103 MPH fastball and a 101 MPH fastball before a throw down to second caught Pena stealing on the bags.
Ben Joyce struck out Yordan Alvarez on 3 pitches: 103, 101, 102 🔥 pic.twitter.com/yORmM8c3HZ
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 2, 2023
Despite the Astros defeating the Angels by a score of 5-2 on Thursday night, Joyce finished the game with an identical statistic as his debut: 1 inning pitched, no runs, one hit, two strikeouts, four batters faced.
All 10 of Joyce’s pitches on Thursday night were recorded by ESPN over 101 MPH.
