Arizona’s Zac Gallen accidentally kills bird with pregame throw at Coliseum

Add another odd animal-related incident to the Oakland Coliseum’s ledger.

While throwing in the outfield before Wednesday’s game between the Oakland Athletics and Diamondbacks, Arizona starting pitcher Zac Gallen threw a pitch that hit a bird crossing in mid-flight and apparently killed it.

“I don’t really know what happened, honestly,” Gallen told the Associated Press after the game. “I just know that the ball changed directions really. I saw what happened. It’s kind of a freak accident. It’s unfortunate.”

Bally Sports Arizona posted a clip of the unlucky moment, with a broadcaster relaying that “the bird is no longer with us.”

It was weirdly reminiscent of a 2001 spring training game in which Randy Johnson — then also with the Diamondbacks and facing the Giants — killed a bird that flew into the path of one of his pitches.

In recent years, the Coliseum has played host to a “Rally Possum,” feral cats and an opossum in the press box, but all are believed to have avoided run-ins with speeding baseballs.