Tigers batter explains why he couldn’t swing at Zack Greinke’s 51 mph eephus pitch

Astros pitcher Zack Greinke had a dreadful outing Monday as the Detroit Tigers won 6-2 in Houston.

Greinke would probably like to forget the game, but at least one highlight is sure to be replayed for quite some time: his 51 mph eephus pitch for a strike against the Tigers’ Renato Núñez.

Greinke, the former Royals pitcher, allowed six runs and 10 hits with three walks in 4 2/3 innings.

The Tigers hit three home runs, including one by Núñez in the third inning. When Núñez came to the plate in the fifth inning, Greinke tried out the slowball pitch.

Núñez said he was told to be prepared for something slower than usual but he just couldn’t pull the trigger.

“He really got me on that,” Núñez told MLB.com. “I wasn’t expecting that. One of the guys told me earlier that he has that pitch, and it was, ‘Hey, get ready for that pitch, then hit a homer.’ And I was like, ‘OK, if he throws that.’

“But I didn’t (swing). I mean, it was way too slow. I will see if he throws me that one next time. Maybe I’m going to swing hard and hit it.”

Rob Friedman, aka the Pitching Ninja, shared a video that shows Greinke throwing that pitch next to a 100 mph effort with the Royals.

MLB.com said it was Greinke’s slowest pitch in the tracking era (since 2008) that wasn’t an intentional ball