Rafu Wire and Staff Reports
Yu Darvish was named Player of the Week for the first time in his MLB career Monday after throwing a combined 14 shutout innings to earn two wins from two starts for the San Diego Padres in the National League.
The Japanese 36-year-old hurled eight innings against the Seattle Mariners on Sept. 13 and six against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, improving to 15-7 this season from 28 starts.
The right-hander has a 3.05 ERA and is one win away from matching his MLB-best 16 from 2012 when he made his big-league debut with the Texas Rangers.
Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez won the award in the American League after batting .520 with five home runs and 10 RBIs.
Chicago Cubs rookie Seiya Suzuki was the most recent Japanese player to win the award. He took it in mid-April this year.
Keston Hiura started as Milwaukee’s designated hitter on Tuesday, but a four-run seventh inning by the visiting New York Mets sealed a 7-5 loss for the Brewers. Hiura went 0-for-2 at the plate.
Two-way star Shohei Ohtani got a hit in his sixth straight game, and scored a run as the DH, and the Angels pulled out a 5-2 win over the Rangers in Texas.
Lars Nootbaar was hitless in two at-bats, and the St. Louis Cardinals were blanked 5-0 by the Padres in San Diego.
On Monday, Ohtani went 2-for-4 as the Angels lost 9-1 to the Mariners, and are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season.
Batting second as the designated hitter, Ohtani struck out swinging twice before lining a
double down the left-field line in the sixth inning off Logan Gilbert (13-6). He scored his team’s only run on a Taylor Ward sacrifice fly at Angel Stadium.
It was the 100th double in the big leagues for Ohtani, who secured his first multiple-hit game in seven when he singled to center off relieving lefty Matthew Boyd in the eighth.
Carlos Santana had two home runs, including a fifth-inning grand slam, and Ty France had a three-run shot as the pair plated all the Mariners’ nine runs in the rout.