The Texas Rangers had two rough days in Washington D.C. on Friday and Saturday, and they needed a big day from their ace starting pitcher to stop their skid following a great start to their season-long 11-game road trip.
Like so many times before when the Rangers have leaned on Darvish, they got something that could be filed under "special."
Darvish worked eight scoreless innings on a day when the Rangers' put out a minor-league lineup and scored just two runs. He struck out 12 and walked two, and did it all in incredibly efficient manner, needing just 102 pitches. All of that after missing his last start with neck stiffness was quite encouraging.
In fact, if the game would've been played under AL rules with a DH, Darvish very well might have been back out for the ninth inning to go for his first career shutout.
Darvish has had a handful of special performances in his two-plus seasons with the Rangers, including the obvious — a 26-out perfect game and a 26-out no-hitter the past two seasons. He's also had a few others that stand out, but Sunday's was right up there.
