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Yu ready: Darvish, Rangers head into season on high note
Photo courtesy of Neil Fonville
By Chris O’Dell, codell@starlocalnews.com
FRISCO – The back-to-back American League Champions were in Frisco on Wednesday for one last tune-up before Opening Day.
With Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish on the mound for Texas, the Rangers ended their spring on a high note by winning a 6-1 contest against the Double-A affiliate Frisco RoughRiders.
Darvish ended his first camp as a major leaguer on a high note as well, tossing four scoreless innings to earn his first win of the spring.
The 6-foot-5 righty surrendered just two hits over his four innings of work, striking out five and walking two hitters to beat the RoughRiders.
"I feel very good about where I am right now," Darvish said.
Darvish got some early help from his offense when the Rangers scored two runs in the first off Frisco starter Tim Murphy.
After Ian Kinsler led off the inning with a walk, Josh Hamilton brought him home with a one-out RBI double. Michael Young, who finished spring with a .514 batting average, then added a two-out RBI single to give Texas a 2-0 lead heading into the home half of the inning.
Beginning his start with a two-run lead, Darvish looked a bit rusty in the early going.
The righty threw three straight balls to leadoff hitter Jurickson Profar, but settled down to register his first strikeout of the game on a full-count breaking ball.
"That's a pitch I've had confidence in before," Darvish said.
In the game's next at bat, Darvish made Frisco's Leury Garcia look silly at the plate by getting three consecutive swinging strikes.
Following a two-out walk to third baseman Mike Olt, Darvish retired Chris McGuiness on a fly out to left to end the first inning.
David Murphy helped the Rangers add to their lead in the second by drawing a leadoff walk. After Craig Gentry bunted Murphy to second, he went to third on a wild pitch and eventually scored on a suicide squeeze courtesy of Jose Felix.
In the bottom of the inning, Darvish retired the first two hitters by getting Jared Prince and Engel Beltre to pop up.
The RoughRiders then earned their first two hits of the game with Ryan Strausborger's two-out single, putting runners on the corners.
Darvish pitched his way out of potential trouble, though, by getting Zach Zaneski to ground out for the inning's third out.
"Today was probably an outing where I tried to do different things," Darvish said.
With neither team scoring in the third, the Rangers were able to make it a 4-0 game when Gentry hit an RBI triple before the starting position players exited the game.
Gentry, who was one of the bright spots for Texas on Wednesday, went 2-for-3 at the plate and became the only starter to play all nine innings.
Darvish was the main attraction though, and finished his time on the mound with a quick fourth inning that saw him add two of his five strikeouts in the game.
"[Darvish] had good stuff today," manager Ron Washington said. "The two-seam was running well. He used all his pitches and kept the ball down."
The Texas win means the Rangers enter Opening Day having won six straight games and nine of their last ten.
With the 6-1 win and another solid outing from Darvish, Washington has reason to be excited about the immediate future.
"[Darvish] did a good job," he said. "A real good job. He did exactly what you're supposed to do when you come to spring training, and each time you take the ball get better. And he did."
With the Japanese hurler set to make his major league debut on Monday against the Seattle Mariners, Darvish said his favorite thing about his time in America so far has been pitching for the Rangers.
"Just pitching in this atmosphere," he said. "I think it's awesome. I think it's great."
Darvish's first start will be the first of a four-game home set against division rival Seattle.
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