Robbie Ross just got shelled. Derek Holland and Matt Harrison still aren’t back. Never fear, Yu Darvish takes the ball Monday night and ...
Oh crap, it’s in Oakland.
If you’re counting on the Rangers’ ace to again give a much-needed boost to the paltry pitching staff, might want to reconsider. If there’s one team in baseball that has come close to figuring out Darvish it’s the pesky A’s. Monday night in Oakland Yu gets his chance to counter-punch in the first game of a three-game series against the best team in the American League.
In his 2-plus seasons in Major League Baseball, Darvish has 18 losses. One-third of those are against the A’s. He’s 1-6 against Oakland, with an ERA of 4.30.
Against the A’s Yu is a 5th starter. Against the rest of baseball he’s a Cy Young-caliber ace.
This year might be different, as Darvish is 1-0 with an 0.82 ERA. He’s pitched well enough to be 3-0, but because of a lack of run support in his three starts he has yet to throw even a single pitch with a Texas run having been scored.
In other words, his margin for error is literally zero. That might be a problem in Oakland, where he is 0-2 lifetime with an ERA of 9.58.
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Knowing the quirkiness of baseball, Darvish will probably have his worst outing and wiggle off the mound with a 7-6 win. Realizing his history against the A’s, I’m sure he’d be happy to take it.
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.
