Darvish Proven Human, but Fighters Still Win
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Yes, that's right, SoftBank accomplished today what nobody has been able to do this season so far, and that is score on the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters super ace. Darvish's final line was 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 9. However, the Fighters scored more than SoftBank did, and that ended up being the real story of the game as Hawks starter Rick Guttormson struggled through 6 innings.
Darvish started off his day by hitting SoftBank shortstop Kawasaki, but the only baserunner he would allow between then and the bottom of the 6th inning came via a walk to Nobuhiro Matsuda. Shotaro Ide broke up the no-hit bid in the 6th.
Darvish's opposite number, Guttormson, ran pitch-for-pitch with Darvish for 2 innings in what is probably the biggest on-paper mismatch seen this year. Guttormson blinked first in the 3rd, with the walks hurting more than Nippon Ham's bats. When Nippon Ham's bats did sting, it hurt bad as Kensuke Tanaka drilled a 2-RBI triple over Hitoshi Tamura's head in center. One more run was added on a groundout by Atsunori Inaba, giving Nippon Ham all the offense they would need.
Yuki Kume, Masahiko Morifuku, Akihiro Yanase, and Christopher Nitkowski all combined to finish the game for SoftBank, giving up 2 runs (1 unearned off of Nitkowski). The Hawks' offense came off of Darvish in the 7th inning with the Fighters leading 4-0. Four straight hits led to the Hawks' 2 runs, but then Darvish buckled down and retired the next three batters.