Escaping first with K sets tone for Chen’s rare night

MIAMI — On most nights, Wei-Yin Chen is perfectly fine pitching to contact. But Wednesday night turned into one of those notable strikeout games for the lefty.

Chen matched his career high with 12 strikeouts in the Marlins’ 3-2 win over the Brewers at Marlins Park. In the first inning, when he fanned Chris Carter with runners on the corners to end the threat, it sent a signal that the Brewers would have difficulty simply putting the ball in play.

“Not allowing any runs in that situation actually pumped my confidence a lot,” Chen said through his interpreter. “In a couple of previous games, I allowed some runs in the first inning. So to get out of the inning without giving up a run helped me out there.”

Chen opened the game by striking out Domingo Santana with a 92-mph fastball. But after singles by Jonathan Villar and Ryan Braun put runners on the corners, the left-hander was in a bind.

Chen retired Jonathan Lucroy on a flyout to short right field. Villar didn’t attempt to tag. And the pitch of the night for Chen ended …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com