Yu Darvish had not allowed a 1st-inning run all season entering Wednesday. 

His mix of cutters, sliders and fastballs have given hitters fits all season, each posting opposing batting averages at or below .225 and accounting for the majority of his whiffs. But the Reds lineup Wednesday posed a unusual threat early on.

When Jesse Winker stepped to the plate in the 1st inning, he laid off two cutters just inches below the zone and slightly inside — the exact same spot Darvish has generated whiffs in this season (graphic). After drawing a walk, two batters later, Mike Moustakas hit a Darvish curveball into the bleachers.

Those 3 runs would be all the Reds needed to win Wednesday game. But Marquee Sports Network analyst Doug Glanville viewed those two takes by Winker with a curious eye.

“How did Winker lay off those pitches,” Glanville questioned. “Was Darvish tipping [his pitches]?”

After the game, Darvish had an explanation of his own.

“I couldn’t control my body in the first inning,” Darvish said. “I tried to figure it out but I couldn’t.”

Whatever the reason, he righted the ship and kept the Cubs in the game. Darvish threw a heavy amount of sinker to left-handed hitters to keep them off balance. A great example of this was his approach to Moustakas. After Darvish let a breaking ball catch too much of the plate, in Moustakas’ next two at-bats, he threw the left-hander 66% fastballs. 

“I realized my breaking ball was not good today, so I started using more fastballs, changeups and splitters to lefties”

Darvish’s next 5 innings went scoreless with just 1 walk, 0 hits and 8 strikeouts. Bauer’s start lasted 7.2 innings with just 3 hits and 10 strikeouts. 

Bauer threw 60% of his pitches out of the strike zone on Wednesday, a season high for the right-hander (link). Although the Cubs only whiffed at 14 of Bauer’s 112 pitches (which sits slightly below Bauer’s season average for a given start), the majority of those whiffs came deep in counts, after Bauer had gotten to 2 strikes with a bevy of elevated four-seam fastballs and knuckle curveballs to change hitters’ eye levels. 

“He relied on that big fastball,” Marquee Sports analyst Sean Marshall said. “It almost defies gravity… he’s got such good spin rate that the seams catch the air and it appears to rise.”

Two of the National League’s leading pitchers have faced off twice this season and each has come away victorious once. Their next meeting this season will only come if both teams make the playoffs. The Cubs’ 5.5-game lead over the Reds with only 16 games left in the season means Bauer might be the one missing out on playoff baseball.

More Deep Dives

• Alec Mills’ unconventional bounceback outing with Sean Marshall