Chirinos' Leads Rangers Over Astros 1-0 in 12 Innings

Yu Darvish took a perfect-game bid into the sixth inning, and the Texas Rangers finally finished off the Houston Astros 1-0 on Robinson Chirinos' RBI single in the 12th inning Friday night.

Darvish retired his first 15 batters before Matt Dominguez singled softly to center, one pitch after Alex Rios nearly caught Dominguez's foul into the right-field corner before running into the padded wall as the ball landed.

Darvish allowed just the one hit and one walk in eight innings with nine strikeouts. He fanned five consecutive batters in the third and fourth innings all swinging. And he pitched despite bleeding from the knuckle of his right thumb in the middle innings.

Darvish came within one out of a perfect game in Houston on April 2 last year, when Marvin Gonzalez grounded a single between the pitcher's legs. He held the Astros hitless in Houston last Aug. 12 before Carlos Corporan's one-out homer in the eighth.

Former President George W. Bush -- a former Rangers' owner -- watched with Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan, who quit as Texas' controlling owner last October and became executive adviser of the Astros.

Texas was 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position and had stranded 15 runners before Chirinos' hit off Brad Peacock (0-1).

Kevin Kouzmanoff singled with one out, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Chirinos' hit to center, ending the game after 4 hours, 11 minutes. Texas left the field with its third straight walkoff win.

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NOTE: The game marked the 20th anniversary of the debut of Globe Life Park, named The Ballpark in Arlington when it opened. It was the first game to go into the 12th inning scoreless in stadium history. ... Rangers RHP Colby Lewis, who hasn't pitched since July 2012 because of arm and hip injuries, is scheduled to start early next week. ... Astros RHP Matt Albers returned from paternity leave on Friday. His wife, Tara, delivered their first child, Mason James. ... The Rangers returned RHP Seth Rosin to the Philadelphia Phillies, who assigned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Rosin (1-0) was taken by the New York Mets in the winter meeting draft, traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers and traded to Texas on March 26. 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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