Seattle Mariners ace Logan Gilbert literally produced the odd sight of 'catching the ball with his uniform.' Unfortunately, the result was a hit, not an out.
Seattle ace Gilbert blocked a Carlos Cortes line drive at 107.8 mph (about 173.5 km/h) with his body in the first inning of the 2026 Major League Baseball game against the Athletics at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington, on the 23rd (Korea time).
Cortes' hit wedged into the middle of Gilbert's uniform and slipped between the buttons. The ball remained in play, but Gilbert, unable to locate it, ran around the mound confused and only later realized it was stuck in his uniform.
According to MLB.com, after the game Gilbert said, "It was blurry for a moment. I thought it hit my face for a second. It happened so fast I didn't know what had happened. I was in a little pain so I took a moment," and added, "I'm glad it didn't hit bone. I only had some pain."
Ultimately, batter Cortes was credited with a hit and reached first base. The umpires, after confirming the ball was stuck in the uniform, immediately called time and resolved the situation under Major League rules that consider a ball dead if a batted or thrown ball becomes lodged in a player or coach's uniform. Subsequent runner placement was left to the umpires' discretion.
Gilbert said, "I didn't know that rule. At first I thought I caught it and felt lucky, but it wasn't a catch," and added, "I don't think a ball hit at that speed deserves to be called an out."
The ruling stopped the runner on third and allowed the runner on first to advance to second. Athletics manager Mark Kotsay argued the runner on third should have scored, but the situation was left to the umpires' discretion. While the umpires discussed, Gilbert continued in the game after being checked by the team trainer and manager Scott Servais.
After the game Gilbert said he had an abdominal bruise and a wound under the palm of his pitching hand. It was unclear whether the wound was caused by the ball, but there was some bleeding. Gilbert hung in there but his pitch count rose quickly and he surrendered several hard hits, completing a season-low four innings while allowing six hits, two walks, three strikeouts and three batters hit.
He said, "It was early in the game so I couldn't come out after the first inning. The start wasn't great but I tried to keep attacking," and added, "The opposing lineup was hitting well but I didn't want to shrink back."
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