Sadahige Kawasaki wasn't as dominant as
Jim Atwell in shutting out the Redbirds the day after
Atwell's 9 K, 4 hits allowed performance, but the veteran righty did manage to keep the home club off the board while scattering 9 hits, striking out 3 and walking 1. With the win
Kawasaki moves to 18-4 with a league best 2.37 ERA. But maybe more impressive is that
Kawasaki went 3 for 4 at the plate in this game, including hitting his 6th double of the 1982 season. While
Kawasaki isn't the worst hitting pitcher in the game, his career slash line is just .208/.225/.252 with an OPS+ of 26. This season, in 84 plate appearances,
Sadahige has a slash line of .294/.310/.382 with an OPS+ of 76.
Antonio Acuna (.289/.335/.488) was 2 for 5 in the win and hit his 4th triple of '82.
And
Russell Fleming (.353/.386/.498 in 220 plate appearances) collected his 13th double, going 1 for 1, scoring once, driving in a run, and walking twice. He also took one for the team (HBP). We will talk more about
Fleming soon as he is playing himself into a greater role with the club. (He has a 1.8 WAR in that part-time gig.)