The year of the pitcher continued on Wednesday night, with a number of outstanding pitching performances around the majors. Leading the way was Yu Darvish, with his first career shutout, one of a quartet with 10 or more strikeouts on the night.
Year of the Pitcher continues with gems from Yu Darvish, Masahiro Tanaka
Yu Darvish pitched his first complete game shutout, Masahiro Tanaka won his 10th game, Johnny Cueto tied a career high in strikeouts, and much more on the mound on Wednesday night.
Tom Pennington
Darvish vs. Miami9 IP, 6 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Darvish toyed with the Marlins and struck out double digits for the fourth time in his last six starts. Darvish won his fourth straight game and has lasted seven innings or longer in each of his last six starts.
Tanaka in Seattle9 IP, 6 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts
Masahiro Tanaka was two outs away from second shutout until former Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning. Tanaka, 10-1, has 102 strikeouts against only 14 walks this season. The right-hander leads the American League with a 2.02 ERA.
Cueto vs. Los Angeles6 IP, 3 hits, 12 strikeouts
Reds ace Johnny Cueto was brilliant in a 5-0 win over the Dodgers, striking out a dozen. Cueto leads the majors with a 1.85 ERA and leads the National League with 109 strikeouts.
Hamels vs. San Diego8 IP, 5 hits, 1 walk, 11 strikeouts
Cole Hamels had his best outing of the year, completely shutting down the Padres. But he suffered a no-decision, thanks in part to ...
Ross vs. Philadelphia7 IP, 4 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts
Tyson Ross matched Hamels pitch for pitch, at least through seven innings, in a game ultimately won 3-0 by the Phillies.
Chen vs. Boston7 IP, 4 hits, 7 strikeouts
Wei-Yin Chen gave the home fans in Baltimore something to cheer for with seven strikeouts in seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits in a 6-0 win over the Red Sox.
Hughes vs. Toronto7 IP, 7 hits, 9 strikeouts
Phil Hughes has quietly become Mr. Reliable in Minnesota with nine quality starts in his last 10 games, and 72 strikeouts to go with just eight walks on the season.
Keuchel vs. Arizona8 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts
Don't look now, but Dallas Keuchel is 8-3 for the Astros, including 6-1 with a 1.33 ERA in his last seven starts.
Ventura vs. Cleveland7 IP, 6 hits, 1 run, 3 strikeouts
Yordano Ventura, the Royals' 23-year-old phenom, was very effective in just his second start back after an elbow scare.
To sum up, Wednesday featured six scoreless starts and nearly a seventh. We saw four double-digit strikeout efforts, matching the highest total for any day so far in 2014. We saw young pitchers on the rise, along with veterans on the rebound, and the top nine starts of the day combined to allow four runs in 68 innings, with 75 strikeouts and seven walks.
See More:
