Karstens is almost perfect in victory
PHOENIX -- Jeff Karstens has given the Pittsburgh Pirates a perfect start. Almost a perfect game, too.
The right-hander set down his first 23 batters before Chris Young’s two-out double in the eighth inning and finished with a two-hitter Wednesday in a 2-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Karstens (2-0) has pitched 15 scoreless innings since going to Pittsburgh in a six-player trade that sent outfielder Xavier Nady and reliever Damaso Marte to the New York Yankees.
“It’s been a big change,” Karstens said. “I was pitching well in triple A and I felt like I wasn’t going to go anywhere.”
The 25-year-old Karstens outpitched Randy Johnson, who pitched baseball’s most recent perfect game in May 2004. Karstens also got his first two major league hits off the five-time Cy Young Award winner and scored on Doug Mientkiewicz’s eighth-inning double.
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