I know, always the optimist. The Chicago Cubs got a decent start from Yu Darvish as he went 5 1/3 innings allowing just two runs, striking out 11 and walking…zero? Wait, let me check that again. Yep. Zero walks. Unfortunately, for Darvish, the bullpen wasn’t as reliable as it’s been in recent weeks and allowed the Cincinnati Reds to rally late and eventually win in 10 innings, 6-5.
Darvish got back to his old ways–before the walks–and had Reds hitters off-balance at the plate. He struck out 11 but needed 102 pitches in 5 1/3 innings to accomplish it.