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DECEMBER 18, 2020, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A11 ROMO, continued from Page A12 r fe d an m ea ni e a ng ls nd its it of E it for is h no .Co as l t s i, af e cording a 2-0 record and a 1.47 ERA in 25 games. Romo re-signed with the Rays in 2018, which was the season that Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash experimented with using an “opener” — a pitcher designated to pitch the fi rst one to three innings at the begin- ning of a ballgame. After 588 appearances out of the bullpen, Romo made his fi rst MLB start on May 19, 2018. He pitched one scoreless inning and struck out the side before getting replaced. Romo also started the next day, pitch- ing 1.1 innings, making him the fi rst pitcher since 2012 to start on consecutive days. Romo went on to make three additional starts later in the month before exclusively coming out of the bullpen once again. During a 13-game stretch from Aug. 9 through Sept. 17, Romo converted nine consec- utive save opportunities and posted a 1.54 ERA. Romo con- verted his 100th career save on Aug. 19 in a 2-0 win over the Boston Red Sox. He fi nished the season with a career-high of 73 appearances, which was fourth in the Amer- ican League (AL) and posted an ERA of 4.14 and converted 25 of his 33 save opportunities. Romo inked a one-year deal with the Miami Marlins in 2019 and served as the team’s closer until late-July, converting 17 saves. On July 27, 2019, Romo was traded to the Minnesota Twins. Romo became the setup man upon his arrival in Min- nesota. In 27 games for the Twins, Romo had an ERA of 3.18 and recorded three saves in 22.2 innings. He made a pair of appearances for Minnesota in the 2019 American League Division Series (ALDS), but the Twins lost to the New York Yankees in three games. Romo re-signed with the Twins for the shortened 2020 season. He recorded fi ve saves in six opportunities and had a 4.05 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 20 innings pitched. The Twins won the AL Cen- tral Division title for the second straight season, but were elim- inated from the playoffs in the wild card round. i e z COLOR COLOR QUARTER PAGE er HALF PAGE $ ew e a k 249 /ea. N 449 /ea. $ st u p m lu f s ADVERTISING SALE e n t d Dec 25th or Jan. 1st edition Holiday s t o f ID s o u Dec 25th or Jan. 1st edition in c lu d e in vi a d s ui es 2 cid 4/ a 7 En l cr he gli isis lp m sh o to d en Sp 1 r em an e g s e ta a ni -80 oti yon om ign l he tho on sh 0 on e e a -2 a n S s d lt ug is a h 1 o h - 88 73- l p etw afe fety to lin i n 8- re are or Or th re e. T t the 33 por nts k t ego rea por his is n ca r h n 6 7. t s and at i ts to t a is a ot ds m s a f os et sc allo a dr nyt lin a h h y u e w z “ t o tip ools s stat gs. ing w y. 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Romo also converted all nine of his save opportunities in August and fi nished the season with 38 saves, which was third in the NL. He became the sixth Giant ever to record more than 30 saves in a season. Romo also fi nished the year with fi ve wins. Romo began the 2014 sea- son with nine saves and an ERA of 1.65. Bur after blowing fi ve saves in a two-month stretch, Romo was brought back to the setup role. He fi nished the year with 23 saves and an ERA of 3.72. Romo also had a ca- reer-high in wins (six). In three appearances in the 2014 NLDS, Romo threw a trio of scoreless innings against the Washington Nationals — the Giants won the series in four games. After taking the loss in game two of the NLCS against the Cardinals, Romo came back the following day to retire Matt Holliday in his short appearanc- es to get the Giants out of a jam. San Francisco won the game in extra innings and Romo was credited as the winning pitcher. Romo made a pair of ap- pearances in the World Series against the Kansas City Royals, throwing 2.1 scoreless innings. The Giants defeated the Royals in seven games and Romo won his third championship ring. Romo’s last full season with the Giants came in 2015. After posting a 5.19 ERA in his setup role before the All-Star break, Romo pitched much more ef- fectively in the second half of the season. Romo didn’t allow a run over a 14-inning stretch that lasted from July 11 to Aug. 21 and posted a 1.15 ERA in the second half of the season. Injuries hampered Romo’s 2016 season as he appeared in just 13 games. He did, however, earn saves in four of the Giants fi nal 12 games to help them reach the playoffs — where they were eventually eliminated by the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS. Romo was picked up in free agency by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017, but after post- ing a 6.12 ERA over 30 games, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays mid-season. Romo had a much better showing in the fi nal months of the season with the Rays, re- TURN OUR READERS ce stu de nt “ b a c s a ar utto wa loth t all fab e fu ck y es tim r ll s, su m ha W ic.” y co bre ch ust es, ve ast th b w s h re s a at e n ha sp ile d n w all ot, t's a eci th w d ith n co ow the pp fic e i p m s n ro D op p aq les O for tud ew pr ia stan istr ue ne en d te da ict r r t of s ess an ds s t t d il th o co e dr de wh for l bi es a gg t s do 's es to m es t c or stu th ha e w d e ng ha ear ents cod es e t t (i s o sc ha nclu , h p lte d aj oo r ing am l, to ps sp as, an ag d he ath tti let s ic tra att ps) ir , O cu ffic m ia ul l: at H iv um e b a ut n t is oll re o st n c or r ab eek le into the U.S. Navy, but then elected to attend junior college. In his second year at Arizona Western College, Romo went 16-4 with a 2.79 ERA and was named second-team All-Region for the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference in 2003. Romo spent his fi nal two years of college baseball playing at a pair of Division II schools. In his junior year at North Al- abama University, Romo went 10-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 97.1 innings and was named fi rst- team All-Gulf Coast Confer- ence. In 2005, Romo trans- ferred to Mesa State and was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year. Romo was picked up by the Giants in the 28th round of the 2005 MLB Draft and began his professional career with the Vol- canoes. Despite being drafted so late, Romo quickly proved to be one of the top prospects in the Giants system. Used as a starter, Romo led the Northwest League in wins (seven) and had a 2.75 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 68.2 in- nings with the Volcanoes. Romo continued to have success in 2006 with the Au- gusta GreenJackets, recording a 10-2 record with a 2.53 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 103.1 in- nings. He was promoted to advanced A-ball in San Jose in 2007 and was transitioned to the bullpen, where he proved to be even more valuable. In 41 relief appearances, Romo went 6-2 with a 1.36 ERA and 106 strikeouts and nine saves in 66.1 innings. Romo ended his tenure with San Jose with a mark of 14.38 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, which was fourth best in all of Minor League Baseball. MiLB.com named Romo the Class A Advanced Relief Pitch- er of the Year in 2007 after he helped San Jose win the Cali- fornia League title. After beginning the 2008 season in Double-A, Romo was called up by the Giants on June 24, 2008. He made his big league debut out of the bull- pen two days later and struck out two batters in an inning of work. of the best years of Romo’s ca- reer. Romo became just the fi fth pitcher in MLB history to throw nine or more consecutive per- fect innings, retiring 30 straight batters over a 10-innings span that lasted from July 4 to Aug. 6. From June 30 to Aug. 23, Romo threw 21.2 consecutive scoreless innings, the longest streak of his career. In 65 ap- pearances, Romo had an ERA of 1.50, which was third lowest among NL relievers. Additionally, Romo had a 14:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which was the best mark in MLB in more than 20 years. Romo also stranded 81.8% of his runners, which was fi fth in the NL, and had the second highest strike percentage (71%) in the NL — minimum 20 in- nings pitched. In 2012, Romo won the Gibby Award for being the MLB Setup Man of the Year, posting a 1.79 ERA, which was the highest among all middle relievers. The Giants had issues with their closer role for the majority of the season, forcing manager Bruce Bochy to use a “bullpen by committee” strategy. Romo saved all nine of his save op- portunities in 2012 and posted a 1.33 ERA in close-out situ- ations. In the 2012 NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds, Romo won game three and saved game fi ve, helping the Giants advance to the NLCS. The Giants won the NLCS in seven games against the St. Louis Cardinals and Romo ap- peared in all four of San Fran- cisco’s wins. In 3.1 innings, Romo gave up no runs and just two hits. Romo’s best postseason per- formance came against the De- troit Tigers in the World Series. Romo earned the save in the fi nal three games of the series, not allowing a hit or a run in three innings of work, as the Giants won their second cham- pionship in three years. After signing a two-year, $9 million contract, Romo ex- celled in his fi rst full season as a closer in 2013. Romo con- verted 10 saves in the month of April which was the second most saves in a calendar month in Giants history. In July, Romo r Sa e c gm r to In ille a r co da la a said m n n . d p s d in art tru ha sca ditio c of te s pin n of ea a th d be g C d re e acro en , l s o “ agg w ide cre ss W e ns n ek ts in h tt tr tia u e th ly ct o Cre eam l e b lo ed e v ek ac ok e . k in th r of g is F th to G let eir as rap che a a hi r of nd nyo x. at Sa so F it’ ne lem m let s c e t c si “ th h u o ’ ar mp Eve ing er’s r uld e le ry e t h e op M W ve tr da lse r e be ac hi nts, ips y er . fo no r hin le ” s an ran r h o ad t-s f e a T e ym ds ul o- oo tt he sa o a id r r ts m h ra w ed s cts A . ws “A ho d an a d li d f v d er a st w gu eek w ults -th ten ng k aa air entu (8 pla ude ide a d e y 44 ce nt s ‘ id hs nu r s g - Y )-4 t s, er eah wh ago at o s top to h s, i fro m- c 72 o t it s , o h re r a t’s m - se ma aid. Sco jus and e c am eact ve t the Sc r io de “I ob t s th oa ing ion he o us m t y- cr e st m c s uc pu Th oby an e was Do eam re a f ra- . sa In h a rp e D d w sm so o,’” ed wa ew i i s o os A o h le a F o d th s I e dv ?” o let u a th e ca t do is ch , er m n, ea es sp n n r AP Photo Romo celebrates after closing out game four of the 2012 World series. Despite posting an ERA of 2.35 in 15 appearances, Romo was sent back down to the mi- nors on Aug. 6, but was recalled 10 days later. In 34 innings of work, Romo posted a 3-1 re- cord with a 2.12 ERA. Romo was forced to miss the fi rst two months of the 2009 season due to an elbow strain, but still managed to have a great start to his year. He picked back- to-back wins out of the bullpen on June 19-20, and recorded his fi rst MLB save on July 7. Romo ended the 2009 sea- son with a 5-2 record and a 3.97 ERA in 45 appearances. He was one of only eight Na- tional League (NL) relievers to give up one or fewer home runs. Romo also was able to strand 92.9% of his inherited runners, which was the second best mark in the NL. Even though he got off to a rough start in 2010, Romo still proved himself to be one of the top setup guys in the big leagues. In his fi nal 54 games, Romo posted a 1.54 ERA and had the second most appearanc- es on the team (68). He fi nished the season with a 5-3 record and a 2.18 ERA. His strikeout-to- walk ratio was sixth best among NL relievers and his ERA was the 10th best in the league. Romo made his fi rst playoff appearance in game two of the 2010 National League Divi- sion Series (NLDS) against the Atlanta Braves, but didn’t re- cord an out as the Giants blew a three-run lead and eventually lost in 11 innings. In the following game, Romo gave up a go-ahead ho- mer to Eric Hinske in the bot- tom of the eighth, but was still credited with his fi rst playoff win after the Giants rallied in the top of the ninth to take the lead. Romo had a blown save in the National League Champi- onship Series (NLCS) against the Philadelphia Phillies, but held the Phillies scoreless in his two other outings as the Giants advanced to the World Series. Romo made one appearance in the World Series and didn’t allow a run in 0.2 innings as the Giants won their fi rst World Se- ries since 1954. Even though his season end- ed two months early due to in- jury, 2011 ended up being one