Major League Baseball Padres pitcher Yu Darvish started against Seiya Suzuki's Cubs and pitched seven innings with two hits and no runs for the first time this season, earning him one win away from 7 major league wins.
The game was held in San Diego, the home of the Padres, on the 3rd, and Darvish, who started in the fifth day, faced Suzuki, who started in the fourth and right, for the first time.
Darvish even had a variety of fastballs in addition to his fastball from the start, and in his first meeting with Suzuki in the second inning, he struck out with a fastball over 5 kilometers.
After that, he continued to pitch dangerously, and until the seventh inning, he allowed only two hits, an infield hit, and held the team scoreless for the first time this season, and Suzuki also struck out in the fourth inning and struck out on a changeup ball in the seventh.
He threw 7 pitches, struck out nine and had one foreball for a 2.4 ERA.
Suzuki also struck out in the fourth at-bat of the ninth inning when the pitcher was replaced, and went 7-for-115 with a no-hitter and three strikeouts, lowering his batting average to 9.1.
The Padres won the game 4-10 and Darvish was the winning pitcher.
With this, his record this season is 9 wins and 4 losses, and he is one win away from becoming the second Japan player to win 4 major league games after Hideo Nomo.
Darvish one win away from 100 wins 'I'm not thinking about anything'
"My physical movement wasn't very good, and I was kind of lucky because I managed to do it with one two-seam," Darvish said of the game, "and about being one win away from 100 major league wins. I don't think about anything."
Regarding holding Suzuki to a no-hitter in his first match, he said, "Even if you look at the data Japan, he has a very good eye for the ball and has power, so I was throwing it all the time thinking that I didn't like it. I will do my best to pitch well next time."