ARLINGTON -- Right-hander Yu Darvish was electric across 8 1/3 innings, leading the Rangers to a 2-0 victory over the Yankees at Rangers Ballpark on Tuesday night.
Darvish, helped by a couple of outstanding plays by shortstop Elvis Andrus, outpitched Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda in only the seventh game in Major League history to be started by two Japanese-born pitchers.
Darvish, featuring an especially devastating assortment of breaking and offspeed pitches, allowed seven hits and two walks while striking out 10. The Yankees were 0-for-6 against Darvish with runners in scoring position. He improved to 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA after four starts in the Majors.
Ian Kinsler gave Darvish an immediate 1-0 lead when he hit Kuroda's third pitch of the game over the left-field wall. It was the 21st time in his career that Kinsler had hit a home run to lead off the first inning, extending his own club record.
The Yankees' biggest threat came in the top of the third, when a base hit by Eric Chavez, a walk to Russell Martin and Derek Jeter's bunt single loaded the bases with nobody out. The Yankees had Curtis Granderson, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano coming to the plate.
But Darvish struck out Granderson looking on a 2-2 breaking ball, then got Rodriguez to hit a grounder down the third-base line. Adrian Beltre, back in the Rangers' lineup, fielded the ball on the run, stepped on third base and fired to first for an inning-ending double play. Darvish shook his fist in delight as he hopped off the mound.
The Rangers made it 2-0 in the bottom of the third, when Andrus drew a two-out walk, stole second base and scored on a single by Josh Hamilton.
The Yankees, on the other hand, had three chances to score a runner from second base in the fourth after a leadoff double by Cano. This time, Darvish struck out Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher, and he got Raul Ibanez on a grounder to end the inning.
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