Who knows why? Beeks closes D-backs win after swallowing fly

5:45 AM UTC

DENVER -- Bugs and baseball. Their worlds have collided before, and we don’t mean Bugs Bunny and the Gas House Gorillas.

Perhaps the most famous example is when the Yankees’ Joba Chamberlain stood on the mound in Cleveland trying to survive an attack by a swarm of Lake Erie midges during Game 2 of the 2007 American League Division Series.

But on Thursday night at Coors Field, there was a different sort of insect infringement on the field. During the bottom of the ninth inning of the D-backs’ 8-2 win over the Rockies, Arizona reliever was met with an uninvited guest as he lifted his leg to deliver a pitch to Brenton Doyle.

“Yeah, l swallowed a fly when I lifted my leg,” Beeks said. “Never had that happen, but, you know, we got through it. We got the win. That’s the important thing.”

Beeks got through it, but it was nonetheless a weird feeling to ingest that type of protein while pitching in a Major League game.

The former Rockies reliever had been part of some strange games at Coors Field before -- not unusual -- but you can file this one in a whole different category.

Manager Torey Lovullo was the first to notice that something wasn’t right.

“You just hold your breath,” Lovullo said, unintentionally using an interesting phrase given the situation. “You’re wondering, like, ‘Is it an oblique? Is it the back?’ … By the time I got out there, he said that on his turn, he was going and the fly was present.”

The fly was present, but not alive for long.

“I gagged a little bit,” Beeks said. “It just took me a second, but I was fine. No big deal. Good story for later, though.”

Beeks drank some water and proceeded to close out the Rockies, though not before Doyle hit a solo homer.

“Obviously, Doyle got me, but …”

At this point, Beeks began to cough a bit and clear his throat. Certainly understandable given the circumstances.

“Sorry,” he said. “Maybe the fly’s still in there.”