Rick van den Hurk of the Florida Marlins won his final start of the 2009 Major League season. He pitched on Friday against reigning World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies (final score 7-2) and allowed just five hits, two runs and a walk in six innings. He concludes the year with a 3-2 record and an ERA of 4.30 in the big leagues this year. The 24-year-old right-hander made eleven starts with 49 strikeouts (21 bb) in 58 2/3 innings. The Eindhoven native might need to work a bit on his batting during the winter, as he has just one hit in 47 at-bats in his MLB career, while striking out 31. But if he pitches like Friday, it is not important if ever reaches first base again.
Jair Jurrjens is supposed to make his final start of the 2009 season this afternoon local time against Ross Detwiler and the Washington Nationals. The Atlanta Braves right-hander picked up win number 14 last Monday, conceding just five hits and a walk in seven shutout innings against the Florida Marlins (final score 4-0). His ERA shrunk to 2.61.