Yu Darvish’s career in America has been pretty brilliant so far. He’s a two-time All-Star, has received Cy Young votes in each of his two years in the majors (including a runner-up finish last year), and he led the American League in strikeouts in 2013. But one thing has eluded him – a complete game. Darvish has flirted with no-hitters and perfect games, but until Wednesday night, he had never thrown a nine inning complete game in the major leagues. Who knew that all it would take for Darvish to go nine was a matchup with a punchless Marlins lineup?
Game of the Night: Phillies 3, Padres 0. There weren’t many great games on Wednesday night, so I’m going to give the nod to the evening’s one walk off. Tyson Ross and Cole Hamels spit fire at each other early on in this one, with both pitchers combining to strike out 18 and walk two over 15 innings. The one extra base hit that came through the first eight innings of the night was a Cameron Maybin double to lead off the third. Each team’s first reliever, Joaquin Benoit and Jonathan Papelbon, got into messes, but got out of them unscathed. That wouldn’t happen with Nick Vincent in the ninth. He struck out Marlon Byrd to lead off the inning, but then walked Domonic Brown. After plunking Carlos Ruiz, light-hitting Reid Brignac came to the plate…homered over the right field wall. Game, blouses.
Pitching Lines of the Night: It’s another great pitching Wednesday, but I’ll be a little more liberal with my listing of starters tonight. In Texas’ 6-0 win over Miami, Yu Darvish struck out ten, walked three, and allowed six hits in his complete game shutout. Cole Hamels and Tyson Ross both got no decisions in Philadelphia’s 3-0 win over San Diego. Hamels gave up five hits over eight shutout innings, walking one and striking out 11, while Ross allowed four hits over seven shutout innings, walking one and punching out seven. Johnny Cueto shut down the Dodgers in Cincinnati’s 5-0 win, giving up three hits over six scoreless frames, walking none and striking out a dozen. Masahiro Tanaka joined Darvish in throwing a complete game as the Yankees beat the Mariners 4-2, allowing two runs on six hits over nine innings, walking one and striking out 11. Wei-Yin Chen pitched the Orioles to a 6-0 win over the Red Sox, spinning seven scoreless frames while striking out seven without a walk and allowing four hits. Dallas Keuchel stayed hot in Houston’s 5-1 win over Arizona, allowing one run on four hits in eight innings, walking one and striking out five. Phil Hughes pitched the Twins to a 7-2 win in Toronto, tossing seven shutout innings and allowing seven hits, striking out nine without a walk.
Hitting Lines of the Night: Chris Carter supplied the offense in the Astros’ win over the Diamondbacks, going 2/4 with a pair of solo homers. Andrew McCutchen helped the Pirates beat the Cubs 4-2, going 2/2 with a double, a homer, two RBI, a walk, and a stolen base. In Washington’s 6-2 win over the Giants, Jayson Werth went 2/4 with a homer, two runs, three RBI, and a walk. Jose Abreu pounded the White Sox to an 8-2 victory over the Tigers, going 3/4 with a walk, a solo homer, and three RBI. Kendrys Morales didn’t miss a beat for the Twins in their victory over the Jays, going 3/5 with two doubles, a run scored, and three RBI. Chris Davis hit like, well, Chris Davis in Baltimore’s win over Boston, going 2/4 with a double, a homer, two runs, and two RBI.
Other Games: The Royals topped the Indians 4-1. The Brewers beat the Mets 3-1. The Rays actually scored some damn runs and doubled upt he Cardinals 6-3. Tyler Matzek earned his first career win in Colorado’s 8-2 win over Atlanta. The A’s beat the Angels 7-1.
Today’s Games: Zack Greinke and Alfredo Simon will duel in Cincinnati. Ervin Santana starts for the Braves in Denver. Tim Hudson and the Giants host the Nationals. Jeff Samardzija starts for the Cubs in Pittsburgh. Kyle Lohse and Jon Niese will face off in Flushing. Mark Buehrle gets the nod for the Blue Jays in Baltimore. Jon Lester and the Red Sox host Josh Tomlin and the Indians. Max Scherzer and Chris Sale face off in Chicago.
National TV: Dodgers-Reds (12:30 PM, MLB Network), Padres-Phillies (1 Pm, MLB Network), Brewers-Mets (7 PM, MLB Network), Indians-Red Sox (7 PM, MLB Network)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
