In a Rangers’ season that has gone all wrong, Yu Darvish has been all right.
Texas’ ace didn’t have his best stuff last night against the Yankees, but he showed some of his best grit. Despite minimal control of his fastball, Darvish struck out eight in seven innings to power the Rangers to a 4-2 win over the Derek Jeters.
In a frustrating season, the Rangers’ best player almost lost his composure. He allowed two solo homers to Brett Gardner and three hits to Jeter, who got a standing ovation from the Globe Life Park crowd before passing Carl Yastrzemski for 7th place on baseball’s all-time hit list.
But in the 7th inning Darvish kept his cool, his command and the lead. With the tying runs on base he struck out Brian McCann with a cutter in the dirt. Darvish pumped his fist twice and yelled, moving the crowd of 44,000 to its feet and eventually a chant of “Yuuuuuuu!”
In a forgettable season, it was pretty cool moment.
Darvish won his 10th game of the season for a team that’s only won 42. In other words, he’s got 24 percent of the Rangers’ wins. As bad as it is, we cringe at the thought of where they’d be without him.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He currently lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
