Seattle Mariners’ Hisashi Iwakuma no-hits Baltimore Orioles
It’s been a forgettable season for the Seattle Mariners, who currently sit 6.5-games out of a wild card spot and lead only the Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics and Cleveland Indians in the American League standings. It’s also been a trying season for Mariners righty Hisashi Iwakuma, who has dealt with injuries, trade rumors and inconsistent performance on the mound.
But on Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles, Iwakuma didn’t have to deal with anything. He was just, well… dealing.
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After ending July on a low note, the Japan native has been back to his normal ways in August, giving up just four total runs in two starts (15.2) innings. But he took it a step further on Wednesday, allowing just three walks and no runs through nine innings against Baltimore. He threw the fourth no-hitter in Seattle Mariners franchise history.
Despite striking out seven and issuing the three walks, Iwakuma still managed to get it all done on just 116 pitches. The 34-year-old retired the Orioles in short order through the first three innings, before walks to Manny Machado and Chris Davis broke up his perfect game bid in the fourth. But Iwakuma would quickly get back into his groove, with an eighth-inning walk to Jonathan Schoop being the only baserunner for Baltimore from there on out.
With the Astros, Angels and Rangers putting up their own respective fights for postseason berths, it’s hard to imagine the Mariners getting back into things. But if something were to spark a late-season run, Iwakuma’s performance on Wednesday could be that spark. Nelson Cruz, Robinson Cano and the Seattle offense have picked up the pace in August, so some consistent pitching down the stretch could see the Mariners making things interesting as the end of the season draws closer.