Alex Vesia, Dodgers pitcher who lost infant daughter, gets standing ovation after scoreless return to mound
Perhaps for the first time in 2026, Alex Vesia felt some normalcy on Friday night.
The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher made his return to the pitcher's mound in his first Major League outing since his infant daughter died just five days after she was born.
Before the World Series, the left-hander left the team to deal with a "deeply personal matter" and did not pitch in the Fall Classic.
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Days after the Dodgers won the World Series, he and his wife announced their infant daughter had died.
Vesia returned to the team during spring training and then entered the Dodgers' game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the seventh inning of a 4-4 tie.
It was quite the spot for Vesia to return, but given his 2.36 ERA over the last two seasons, it was no sweat. He left a runner stranded on second base and kept the D-Backs scoreless en route to the team's 5-4 win over their division rival.
Vesia let out a yell and pointed toward the Dodgers' family section while getting a standing ovation from the crowd.
Vesia was wearing a customized pink glove with his daughter's name, Sterling Sol, stitched on it, along with her birthday and his wife's first initial, K for Kayla, embroidered on the glove's ring finger.
DODGERS PITCHER'S WIFE LIVES THROUGH 'BITTER SWEET' OPENING DAY MONTHS AFTER INFANT DAUGHTER'S DEATH
"What I would give to have my Sterling girl here, carrying her in my heart always," Kayla said in an Instagram post earlier this week to celebrate a "bitter-sweet" opening day.
Sterling passed between Game 2 and Game 3 when the series was tied at one game apiece. During the Fall Classic, relievers from the Toronto Blue Jays wrote Vesia's jersey number, 51, on their hats.
In his first news conference of the year in spring training, Vesia called his wife "the strongest person that I know" and "a support system for me every bit as much as I am for her."
"Life can change in an instant. For us, 10 minutes is all it took," Vesia said in February. "Sterling Sol was the most beautiful girl in the world. We got to hold her, change her diaper, read to her and love her. Our time together was far too short. Kay and I will keep those precious moments and memories to ourselves.
"Stepping away from the team, the brothers that I go to war with every day, was difficult, but it was also an easy decision because my family needed me. We still watched every pitch of the World Series, and for us in so many ways, that was a light in our darkness.
"I was not prepared to not bring my baby girl home, but we're carrying her with us every day. It's been hard, but we're doing OK."
The back-to-back reigning World Series champions are 2-0 to start the MLB season.
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