That raised calls for more focus on how Darvish starts off in a game. And that focus clearly worked this week as Darvish struck out all three batters in the first inning.
Last week, Darvish threw 15 fastballs in the first inning with 10 of them missing the strike zone. Before this week’s game, Coach Ron Washington said Darvish had to get better control of his fastball. That is exactly what happened.
Darvish needed only 12 pitches to retire the side in the first inning and 10 of those were fastballs.
Afterward, Darvish said, “Some of the problems I’ve had have been when I was in the first inning. I paid close attention to pitching well in the first inning today.”
Darvish also had help from an aggressive offense as the Texas Rangers walloped the Los Angeles Angels 9-2 Saturday.
Catcher Yorit Torrealba said, “His fastball looked so good, we stayed with it. When he can locate his fastball, he can be as good as anybody in the game.
Overall, Darvish struck out 11 Angels, tying his best record since he started pitching in North America. He walked four, however, still showing a weakness for bases on balls. In 18 games, he hasn’t yet emerged walk-free.
He gave up three hits over seven innings and had an earned run average of 2.57 in this game and 3.88 for the season, still far from his career 1.99 in Japan. But he is one of only five Major League pitchers in all of baseball history to rack up at least six games with 10 or more strikeouts in his first 18 career starts.
As in Japan, he remains a strikeout king. He is tied for fifth place this season in number of strikeouts—and all those above him have pitched more games. But he is also ranked 5th in terms of walks and all those above him have pitched more games.