Solid outing Tom de Blok vs Yu Darvish

Last night Tom de Blok pitched for the West Michigan WhiteCaps in a game vs the South Bend Cubs who had Yu Darvish, who is on a rehab assignment, on the mound. Tom didn’t get the win but had a good outing nevertheless.

In this pitching matchup against Yu Darvish, De Blok lasted one inning longer than the Japanese-Iranian star of the Chicago Cubs. But the numbers Darvish put on were a tad better than De Blok’s. In five innings, Darvish gave up one run on three hits as he struck out five. De Blok also gave up a run and struck out five but he gave up six hits and walked one. Still pretty good numbers.

Both pitchers got a no-decision as the game was tied when they left the game. Eventually, the WhiteCaps won 4-2.

Perhaps the only flaws in Tom’s outing were the two HBPs (one in the first and one in the fourth inning). Beside the HBP in the first inning, Tom retired the remaining three batters.
In the second, Tom faced four batters again as he gave up one single and retired the others on two groundouts and a flyout. In the fifth inning, he faced five batters as he gave up a single and a walk and retired the other three on a strikeout, a forceout, and a flyout. In the fourth inning, Tom threw that aforementioned HBP and gave up a single.
In the fifth inning, Tom gave up the sole run of his outing as the South Bend Cubs scored the game-tying run on a double by Miguel Amaya. In the sixth inning, De Blok gave up one more single but also recorded the fifth strikeout of his outing.

Before Tom was sent down to A Full Season, his season wasn’t as impressive as his first season was. In the first few games of the season at A-Advanced, Tom struggled somewhat but eventually, he settled down. Nevertheless, he was sent down to the WhiteCaps.
No matter what turn his career will make, last night’s outing may be one he will never forget. How many Dutch pitchers can tell they have pitched against Yu Darvish? Exactly. None!