THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 14, 2020 at 12:10 JST
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Yu Darvish delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Aug. 13 in Chicago. (AP Photo)
CHICAGO--Yu Darvish’s bid for a no-hitter ended when Justin Smoak homered off the Chicago Cubs pitcher with one out in the seventh inning to put the Milwaukee Brewers on the scoreboard Thursday night at Wrigley Field.
Smoak connected on Darvish’s 98th pitch, sending a shot to right field that trimmed Chicago’s lead to 4-1.
The Cubs entered with a 12-3 record, best in the majors.
Darvish, who had 11 strikeouts, allowed three baserunners and threw 92 pitches over the first six innings in his third straight dominant start. The 33-year-old right-hander from Japan walked Ben Gamel in the second and Orlando Arcia in the fifth and hit Christian Yelich with a low pitch in the first.
Yelich smacked a hard liner, but straight to right fielder Steven Souza, Jr., to start the fourth.
Darvish signed a $126 million, six-year contract with the Cubs as a free agent in February 2018, but has been hampered by elbow and triceps injuries since coming to Chicago.
Darvish has twice come within one out of a no-hitter, both times with the Texas Rangers.
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