PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s Pavin Smith sliced a line-drive single to start the seventh inning, ending an opening day no-hit bid by the San Diego Padres on Thursday night.
Yu Darvish threw the first six innings for San Diego without giving up a hit, but he was pulled before the seventh after throwing 92 pitches. Manager Bob Melvin’s decision wasn’t a surprise: Pitchers all around the game are on limited pitch counts following a shortened spring training.
Left-hander Tim Hill relieved Darvish, matching up against the left-handed Smith to start the seventh, but the hitter responded with a clean single to left. The next batter, Carson Kelly, grounded into a double play.
Darvish — a five-time All-Star — made his third opening day start and second for the Padres. The 35-year-old struck out three and walked four.
Bob Feller threw baseball’s only opening-day no-hitter for Cleveland in 1940. The Hall of Famer was 21 years old when he accomplished the feat against the White Sox.
There were a record nine no-hitters thrown across the majors last season. Most of those came before a midseason crackdown by Major League Baseball on the use of illegal sticky substances by pitchers.
The Padres led 2-0. It’s a rough offensive start for the Diamondbacks, who are trying to bounce back from a 110-loss season.
___
Follow David Brandt at www.twitter.com/davidbrandtAP
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
