well as some footage

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PHOENIX — Right-hander Yoshihisa Hirano has been spectacularly efficient in his first season in Arizona Barry Church Jersey , part of the reason the Diamondbacks will enter their four-game series against the San Diego Padres with the best bullpen ERA in the majors.

Hirano may be a major league rookie, but his work the last five seasons as a closer with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan has translated well.

Hirano, 34, had a franchise-record 26-game scoreless streak broken in an 8-4 loss to St. Louis on Wednesday, when he finished one scoreless appearance short of tying former Red Sox right-hander Koji Uehara for the longest such streak by a Japanese-born pitcher in major league history. Even that loss could not diminish the value Hirano has had this season.

Arizona right-hander Shelby Miller is scheduled to face San Diego left-hander Eric Lauer in the first game of the series Thursday.

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo was Boston’s bench coach when Uehara set the record in 2013, so he can provide a comparison of Uehara and Hirano.

“They have the same work habits, which is pretty impressive,” Lovullo said. “They both come in and get their work done pregame. They come in and get their work done postgame. They find themselves healthy and strong and prepared for every single one of their outings.

“They both have a fearlessness to their game and an approach to understanding what needs to happen during each at-bat. They are not afraid to put the ball on the plate with two different pitches. They go out and expect to get outs. Very similar mind-set. Very similar makeup. Very similar confidence.”

Hirano is 2-0 with a 1.43 ERA in 42 appearances. He has 19 holds, fourth in the majors, and he has permitted only one of his 16 inherited runners to score while being primarily used in the seventh inning. Eighth-inning reliever Archie Bradley leads the majors with 22 holds and closer Brad Boxberger has 20 saves.

Uehara began the 2013 season in a similar setup role in the Boston bullpen before advancing to the closer’s role after injuries thinned the relief corps. He finished with 21 saves Charles Tapper Jersey , a 1.09 ERA and an 0.57 WHIP.

“As soon as he became the closer, he gave off a certain edge and a certain confidence that was noticeable,” Lovullo said.

“It’s as close to a slam dunk, shut-down ninth-inning save as I’ve ever seen. He had this ability to collect outs and get through innings in 12 pitches or less. It was so quick, the ninth inning was over before it even started. It was a very comfortable setting for all of us. You played the Boston Red Sox in 2013 for eight innings because the ninth inning was over. That’s what I remember.”

Hirano has a 1.01 WHIP, fourth among major league relievers with at least 40 appearances.

“He’s been very versatile,” Lovullo said. “He’s unfazed by any role we have asked him to do. He can pitch in traffic. He can start clean innings. He can get left-handers and right-handers out.”

The Diamondbacks lost two of three to St. Louis and have dropped five of their past six games overall. They took two out of three games in their only other series against the Padres this season, also at Chase Field.

San Diego has slumped over the last 2 1/2 weeks. The Padres have lost three in a row and are 3-13 since beating Atlanta 9-3 behind left-hander Clayton Richard on June 15. They have scored 30 runs in their last 10 games.

“We’re not getting hits with runners in scoring position,” San Diego manager Andy Green told reporters after a two-game sweep in Oakland.

“Sometimes the best thing you can do is relax, go play baseball and enjoy what you’re doing. Then the hits start coming.”

Christian Villanueva hit his 17th homer for the Padres in a 4-2 loss to the A’s Wednesday.

Miller is 0-2 with an 11.42 ERA in two starts this season after returning from a 14-month absence following Tommy John surgery in last May Eric Dickerson Jersey , 2017. He has given up 15 hits and 11 runs in 8 2/3 innings.

Miller is 2-2 with a 4.54 ERA in eight career appearances, including seven starts, against the Padres. He had a strong outing against them early last season, giving up four hits and one run in 7 1/3 innings in the third of his four starts before suffering the elbow injury.

Rookie Lauer joined the Padres’ rotation in late April and is 3-5 with a 5.08 ERA in 13 starts this season. He was 2-2 with a 2.76 ERA in six June starts and is 1-2 with a 5.09 ERA in seven road starts.

He has never faced the Diamondbacks.

Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce got plenty of attention for his salty language during the Super Bowl celebration parade. The All-Pro says he tried to tone it down when he spoke inside the Phillies clubhouse on Monday.

But once Kelce started his speech, he found that old habits die hard.

"I probably cursed a little more, actually," Kelce said. "At least through the start of the speech I made an effort to not curse and then that quickly faded."

Wearing a red No. 62 Phillies spring training jersey, Kelce was the main guest during the first official day of team workouts.

"I played baseball all the way up until high school," Kelce said. "I threw my elbow out when I was like 12 years old, tore the plate off my bone Sam Acho Jersey , I didn't play baseball after that."

Kelce spent a lot of time watching pitchers throw their side sessions and said there was plenty he could take away from watching them interact with catchers.

"Baseball is an awesome sport," Kelce said. "I've just been picking up some of what goes on between the pitcher and catcher because I think there are a lot of similarities between the mental chess game going on there as there is with me and Carson (Wentz) kind of assessing defenses and stuff like that."

New Phillies manager Gape Kapler said that he spoke with Kelce separately and discussed the rapport Eagles players had with head coach Doug Pederson and the coaching staff.

"Jason and I discussed that and talked about how that communication was the two-way street," Kapler said. "He shared what a good communicator coach Pederson was and how that communication was critical in establishing and maintaining trust throughout the season."

Kapler said he felt the message Kelce gave his players was one that will inspire them and one they needed to hear as they begin the season.

"I think there were 8 to 10 (things) to take away, but the No. 1 was it is OK to fall down, be fearless, get back up, be bold and do it all over again," Kapler said. "Champions have stories to share and they're effective for a reason.

"Because they've been through the ups and downs, they've displayed courage, they've come together as units James Hanna Jersey , they know what it feels like to have people count them out and then to prove people wrong," he said.

Kapler said the Phillies' video production staff put together a piece for the team over the weekend that included some highlights from the other sports teams in the city, as well as some footage from the movie "Rocky" spliced in and some highlights of their own players.

The relationship with the city is something Kapler wants the Phillies to embrace.

"We feel like we're in a partnership with the city of Philadelphia, the fans of Philadelphia and certainly the sports teams of Philadelphia," he said. "You saw it today with Jason. He felt like he was a part of the Phillies family. He wore that 'Be Bold' T-shirt proudly, then he put on a Phillies jersey and a Phillies cap.

"This is an All-Pro center on the best offensive line in football from a Super Bowl championship team. And here he was in our clubhouse today sort of backing the Phillies. I thought that was pretty remarkable," he said.


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