There’s just something about the Seattle Mariners that seems to attract stellar pitching like nobody’s business (while actively eschewing solid hitting, it seems). In his eighth start since returning from the DL (his 11th for the year), starter Hisashi Iwakuma threw a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles Wednesday.
Iwakuma, 34 and an impending free agent, has seen his stock plummet since an All-Star campaign in 2013, when he threw 219 2/3 innings of 2.66 ERA ball. Never a big strikeout guy (career 7.5 Ks per 9 innings), Iwakuma mostly relies on a slider, a splitter and a curve to supplement his underwhelming fastball. He manages to limit the number of walks allowed to the tune of 1.8 free passes per 9, so his lack of strikeouts isn’t as glaring since batters still have trouble reaching base against him.
In this game, Iwakuma walked 3 Orioles while striking out 7, including two punchouts against centerfielder Adam Jones. He threw 116 pitches, 77 of which were strikes; both would be career highs if he hadn’t thrown 118 pitches (85 strikes) in his last start against the Texas Rangers.
Incredibly, this was the first complete game Iwakuma has thrown on this side of the Pacific Ocean; he accomplished the feat 48 times over 11 seasons in Japan. He was buoyed in part by a spectacular catch by third baseman Kyle Seager in foul territory for the first out of the ninth inning.
According to ESPN Stats and Info, this no-no is special for two reasons: Iwakuma is the oldest pitcher to throw one since Hall of Famer Randy Johnson threw a perfect game at age 40, and this is the 4th no-hitter thrown at Safeco Field since it opened in 1999, more than any other ballpark has seen in that span.
Moreover, Iwakuma is the first AL pitcher to throw a no-hitter in 3 years, the last being a perfecto by teammate Felix Hernandez on August 15, 2012. For comparison’s sake, NL pitchers have thrown 12 no-nos in between the two.
While 2015 hasn’t been particularly kind to the Mariners, this is a nice coup for both Iwakuma and the team. He’s unlikely to repeat this performance, but then again, he was unlikely to achieve these heights in the first place. If nothing else, this should help him regain some value on the free agent market this offseason; if the Mariners are smart, they’ll do what they can to retain the fan favorite going forward.
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