PHOENIX, Arizona (Kyodo) — Yu Darvish threw six innings of one-hit ball to earn his 15th win of the season Sunday as the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1.
Darvish (15-7), who won his fifth straight start, started with four 1-2-3 innings, moving within a win of his MLB-best 16 from his 2012 Texas Rangers debut. His career high is 18 achieved with the Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan’s Pacific League in 2011.
A two-run first-inning Manny Machado home run, a third-inning sacrifice fly and a Juan Soto fifth-inning solo shot made it 4-0 before Darvish faced his only jam in the bottom of the fifth.
With two outs and two on from a single and a walk, the only ones Darvish would allow, his fielding error loaded the bases. Geraldo Perdomo battled, fouling off three 3-2 pitches before looking at a slider for a called third strike.
“My pitching was good overall. I had a good feel for the fastball,” Darvish said. “My pitching form got better and I could keep attacking with my fastball.”
Two-way star Shohei Ohtani had his 139th hit of the year, eclipsing his MLB high of 138 from last season, as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 5-1 for their third straight win.
Ohtani singled and went 1-for-3 with a walk. New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, a strong rival to Ohtani in this year’s MVP race, hit his 58th and 59th home runs, moving to within two of Roger Maris’ AL record, set in 1961.
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