Rangers starter Yu Darvish threw a beauty of a game on Tuesday night striking out 10 batters in 8 1/3 scoreless innings as Texas cruised past the Yankees in a 2-0 win.
“He just keeps getting better each time he takes the ball,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said of Darvish following the game. “Tonight, he used everything he had against that team and he had to with the type of hitters they were.”
In only his fourth MLB start, Darvish baffled hitters with an arrangement of off speed pitches mixed in with his high 90s fastball, but what was most impressive was his ability to work his way out of a 0-out bases loaded situation early in the game.
In the third inning, after an Eric Chavez hit and Russel Martin walk, Darvish failed to field a bunt by Derek Jeter, leaving the bags juiced for red hot Curtis Granderson .
But Darvish then got Granderson out on a called third strike before Alex Rodriguez grounded into an inning-ending double play.
“He had a full head of steam after that,” Rangers designated hitter Michael Young said. “He started letting his fastball go late in the game, but he didn’t sacrifice command for stuff. He was still locating well even though he started throwing harder.”
According to ESPN, Yu Darvish’s 8-inning shutout was the longest scoreless outing by a Rangers pitcher against New York since Bob Tewksbury in 1995.
For the 2012 season, Darvish is 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA and 24 strikeouts.
Check out highlights from Yu Darvish ‘s dominating performance vs the New York Yankees in the video below:
via ESPN
