Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma has become the second Japanese-born pitcher in major league history to throw a no-hitter, leading the Mariners to a 3-0 victory over Baltimore on Wednesday.
Iwakuma took the individual plaudits on a day when St Louis again took the team laurels. The Cardinals, who boast the best record in the majors, beat Pittsburgh, their nearest rival in the National League Central, to stretch their lead to seven games.
Kansas City, which have the biggest division lead of any team, stumbled late and lost at home against Detroit, while Houston pitcher Scott Feldman delivered an overdue win as the Astros had a shutout victory at San Francisco.
Photo: AFP
Iwakuma struck out seven in throwing the first no-hitter by any American League pitcher in nearly three years. He joins Hideo Nomo, who threw two no-nos, as the only Japanese-born pitchers to accomplish the feat.
Iwakuma is the fourth pitcher to throw a no-hitter this season, joining Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels — prior to his trade to Texas — Washington’s Max Scherzer and San Francisco’s Chris Heston.
“To be honest, I never thought I would accomplish a no-hitter,” said Iwakuma, who threw 116 pitches and walked three batters in front of a crowd of 25,600 at Safeco Field. “I can’t find words to express my feelings. Extremely happy.”
Photo: AP
St Louis’ Yadier Molina tripled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning as the Cardinals beat the Pirates 4-2.
The game did not live up to the anticipated marquee pitching matchup between Michael Wacha (14-4) and Gerrit Cole (14-6), both of whom were gone by the seventh inning, but Wacha did enough to join Cole and Seattle’s Felix Hernandez in the majors lead for wins.
Detroit’s Ian Kinsler doubled home two runs and the Tigers sent ten batters to the plate in a four-run eighth inning that sealed a 7-4 win against Kansas City.
Royals starter Edinson Volquez (11-7) had retired 13 straight batters entering the eighth but then gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases with none out. Kinsler doubled to score two and end Volquez’s night.
The loss snapped the Royals’ eight-game home winning streak, their longest since 2003.
Houston’s Scott Feldman earned his first win in more than two months, as the Astros hung on to beat San Francisco 2-0.
Feldman (5-5) missed 45 games earlier this season with a torn meniscus and had been winless in four starts since.
Colby Rasmus homered leading off the seventh for the Astros, who put a positive cap on an otherwise disappointing road trip that ended with a 2-7 record.
Los Angeles’ Clayton Kershaw tied Sandy Koufax’s franchise record of six straight 200-strikeout seasons while pitching eight scoreless innings to guide the Dodgers to a 2-0 win against Washington.
Kershaw (10-6) did not allow any runners on base until the sixth inning. He equaled the mark set by Koufax from 1961-to-1966. Koufax and Tom Seaver (1968-76) had been the only pitchers in modern National League history to accomplish the feat in six or more consecutive seasons.
Toronto surged to the top of the AL East standings with a 10th straight win, beating Oakland 10-3 after a pair of three-run homers from Chris Colabello and Justin Smoak.
The Blue Jays trailed the New York Yankees by six games on July 31. However, after making several bold trades, they have gone on a streak that now put them half a game ahead of the Yankees.
Toronto, which won 11 straight in June, is the first AL team with two winning streaks of 10 games or more in single season since Kansas City in 1977.
The Yankees slipped to second after a 2-1 loss against Cleveland, with Danny Salazar pitching neatly into the eighth inning for the Indians.
The Yankees, who have lost five straight, fell out of the top spot for the first time since July 2. New York has scored six runs total over the five defeats.
Salazar (10-6) gave up one run in 7-1/3 innings. He was pulled after issuing two walks with one out in the eighth, but replacement Cody Allen induced a double play to end the inning and the last threat as Cleveland notched a fourth straight win.
Chicago’s Avisail Garcia hit a line-drive double to the wall with one out in the 13th inning to drive in Jose Abreu from first base and give the White Sox a 3-2 win against the Los Angeles Angels.
Scoring the winning run was a relief for Abreu, who botched a play at first base in the ninth inning to allow the Angels to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
Cesar Ramos (2-1), the Angels’ sixth relief pitcher, gave up a single to Abreu and then Garcia’s double as Los Angeles dropped its ninth straight on the road.
The Chicago Cubs also won in extra innings, with Miguel Montero hitting a homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to give them a 3-2 win against Milwaukee and their 12th victory in 13 games.
Minnesota’s Aaron Hicks had four of his team’s 17 hits as the Twins routed Texas 11-1.
New York’s Jacob deGrom struck out 10 in seven scoreless innings, pitching the Mets past Colorado 3-0.
Tampa Bay rallied for a 9-6 win against Atlanta, with Curt Casali’s two-run homer capping a six-run seventh inning.
Cincinnati rookie Raisel Iglesias pitched six strong innings to steer the Reds past San Diego 7-3.
Philadelphia’s Cameron Rupp homered and drove in a career-high four runs as the Phillies beat Arizona 7-6.
Miami rookie JT Realmuto drove in six runs, including five in a franchise record-tying 10-run sixth inning, which helped the Marlins defeat Boston 14-6.
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