Darvish drilled; Cubs win in 10
MIAMI — Yu Darvish’s muchanticipated debut for the Cubs included everything from a bruised foot and forearm cramp to possible dehydration and nerves.
Everything except fastball command, sharpness on his breaking ball, any sense of tempo or enough outs to meet even his manager’s modest expectation of completing six innings the night after the pitching staff was taxed in a 17- inning game.
When the Cubs scored four runs in the 10th inning — three on Kris Bryant’s two- out double — to beat the Marlins 10- 6 on Saturday, the bigger questions left to ponder still involved the four- time All- Star who couldn’t get out of the fifth inning.
It’s only the first of what the Cubs hope will be 190 or so starts across Darvish’s six- year deal. And catcher Willson Contreras said he sensed Darvish was “too amped up to make his debut” — though Darvish denied nerves played a role in his first- game clunker.
Contreras said he also noticed what he thought was cramping when Darvish threw a slider five batters into the fifth inning and shook his hand in apparent discomfort. The next pitch was a 92 mph high fastball to Starlin Castro that prompted Contreras to call for manager Joe Maddon and the trainer for a second visit in the inning ( the first when the leadoff hitter singled off Darvish’s foot).
“It didn’t cramp,” Darvish said. “I had a sensation of almost cramping, but then again there’s dehydration coming from Arizona, so that might be a factor.”
He threw a few warmups, stayed in the game and eventually allowed a two- run tying single to Castro and was pulled at the 102- pitch mark
“Had he said it did [ cramp], he would have been out,” Maddon said. “He gave that little thing with his wrist, and that’s what got me out. He was sweating a lot. Dehydration, that was my concern. But he assured me he was fine, and I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. We’re getting to know one another, and I want to trust him in the moment.
“Overall, it was not Yu’s best effort, but there’s a lot to look forward to after this.”
Darvish, who’s starting his second full season since Tommy John surgery, acknowledged his rhythm was off and his location wasn’t good, especially with his fastball.
Contreras plans to talk to Darvish before his next start about speeding up his tempo and finding a better rhythm.
“I think he let the hitters think too much, like get comfortable in the box,” Contreras said.
Maddon takes solace in the fact that the Cubs won Thursday’s opener and Saturday’s game despite short, rough starts from Jon Lester and Darvish.
“You got Lester and Yu struggling a little bit in their first outing,” he said. “You know good stuff ’s on the way. So let’s just be grateful we won two out of three.”
NOTE: Cubs closer Brandon Morrow has thrown only two pitches this season, but how rare was that RBI single he allowed in the 17th inning Friday?
Until that walk- off by Miguel Rojas, Morrow hadn’t allowed a twoout hit with a man in scoring position since April 15, 2014. It snapped an 0- for- 33 streak in that situation.