M's Iwakuma throws no-no
Off the bat, Hisashi Iwakuma believed the slicing flyball was going to find its way to the outfield grass and end his dream of joining an elite pitching fraternity one out shy.
Then he saw Seattle teammate Austin Jackson sprinting with his glove extended in the air, ready to squeeze the final out and put Iwakuma’s name next to Hideo Nomo as the only Japaneseborn pitchers to throw a nohitter.
Iwakuma became the first American League pitcher in nearly three years to throw a no-hitter, silencing the Baltimore Orioles in the Mariners’ 3-0 victory yesterday in Seattle.
Iwakuma’s gem ended a streak of 11 straight individual no-hitters thrown by NL pitchers. The last AL pitcher to keep zeros across the board was teammate Felix Hernandez, who tossed a perfect game at Safeco Field on Aug. 15, 2012.
Blue Jays 10, Athletics 3 — Toronto surged to the top of the AL East with its 10th straight win, using threerun homers by Milford’s Chris Colabello and Justin Smoake to beat visiting Oakland.
Indians 2, Yankees 1— Danny Salazar pitched neatly into the eighth inning and Cleveland handed visiting New York its fifth straight loss to fall a half-game behind Toronto in the AL East.
Tigers 7, Royals 4 — Ian Kinsler doubled home two runs and visiting Detroit batted around in a four-run eighth inning to end Kansas City’s eight-game home winning streak.
Twins 11, Rangers 1 — In Minneapolis, Aaron Hicks had four of Minnesota’s 17 hits, Miguel Sano homered twice and Mike Pelfrey picked up his first win since June to rout Texas.
National League
Dodgers 3, Nationals 0 — Clayton Kershaw tied Sandy Koufax’s franchise record of six straight 200-strikeout seasons while tossing eight scoreless innings, and NL West-leading Los Angeles defeated Washington.
Kershaw took a perfect game bid into the sixth inning, when Michael Taylor doubled to deep center field. Kenley Jansen retired the side in the ninth to earn his 22nd save in 23 chances.
Jordan Zimmermann nearly matched Kershaw, giving up two hits and one run in seven innings, fanning a season-high nine against one walk.
Cubs 3, Brewers 2— Miguel Montero homered in the bottom of the 10th inning as host Chicago beat Milwaukee for its sixth straight win and 12th in 13 games.
Kris Bryant homered and Anthony Rizzo made a circus catch falling into the stands to lead the keep the Cubs surging.
Cardinals 4, Pirates 2 — Yadier Molina tripled in the go-ahead run in the sixth and Michael Wacha got his 14th win to tie for the major league high as host St. Louis doubled-up Pittsburgh.
Mets 3, Rockies 0 — Jacob deGrom conceded only two hits and struck out 10 in seven innings, pitching host New York past Colorado.
Reds 7, Padres 3 — Rookie Raisel Iglesias pitched six strong innings and Joey Votto scored the go-ahead run on a balk by James Shields and later homered to lead visiting Cincinnati to a victory against San Diego.
Phillies 7, Diamondbacks 6— In Phoenix, Cameron Rupp homered and drove in a career-high four runs, and Philadelphia avoided a series sweep with a win over Arizona.
Interleague
Astros 2, Giants 0 — Colby Rasmus homered to lead off the seventh to help Scott Feldman earn his first win in more than two months, and visiting Houston held on to beat San Francisco.
Rays 9, Braves 6 — In St. Petersburg, Fla., Curt Casali capped a six-run seventh inning with a two-run homer and Tampa Bay rallied for a victory over Atlanta.