Chicago – Yu Darvish allowed three runs over four innings and took the loss in his first start of the delayed MLB season on Saturday as the Chicago Cubs fell 8-3 to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Darvish (0-1) allowed six hits and walked none, while striking out five of the 20 batters he faced at an empty Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Darvish struck out the side in the third but struggled in the following inning. With the game tied 1-1, he allowed a two-run triple to Ben Gamel and the visitors did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game.
« I am frustrated that I gave up runs in a way that I shouldn’t have, » Darvish said.
The right-hander said playing behind closed doors did not have an impact on his performance.
« I usually don’t pay attention to my surroundings. So it didn’t feel so different to me, » he said.
Five Cubs relievers combined to surrender five earned runs on five hits, a day after Chicago opened its season with a 3-0 victory over the Brewers.
Justin Smoak’s fifth-inning solo home run and Christian Yelich’s two-run sixth-inning blast gave Milwaukee a 6-3 lead before the team added two more runs in the seventh.
Among other Japanese players, Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani will make his return to the mound on Sunday in the Angels’ third game of the season against the Oakland Athletics.
Ohtani has not pitched in a regular-season game since 2018 after tearing his ulnar collateral ligament and undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Minnesota Twins right-hander Kenta Maeda and Seattle Mariners lefty Yusei Kikuchi will also make their first starts on Sunday, against the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros, respectively.
Source : Baseball – The Japan Times
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