Yu Darvish Strikes Out 14 as Rangers Top Diamondbacks, 7-1
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Ronald Martinez/Getty Images(ARLINGTON, Tex.) — Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish dominated the Diamondbacks en route to the team’s 7-1 win over Arizona.
Darvish tied a career-high 14 strikeouts over seven innings, and he didn’t walk a single batter. He also picked up his tenth win of the season.
“Some of 9 (the sliders) were dropping down, some of them were going sideways,” Darvish said through an interpreter. “The movement on my slider was really inconsistent and that worked in my favor.”
Darvish has been racking up the strikeouts this season. He’s the second pitcher since 1900 with two games of 14+ strikeouts, no walks, and no runs allowed in a season. The other was Pedro Martinez back in 2000. He also joins Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson as the only pitchers with three games of 14+ strikeouts and no walks in a single season.
Meanwhile, A.J. Pierzynski, Mitch Moreland, and Daniel Murphy all homered to pace the Rangers offense.
With the win, the Rangers remain in striking distance for first place in the AL West. They trail the Oakland Athletics by 3.5 games.
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