Yu Darvish leaves no doubt as Rangers sweep Royals

Yu Darvish sat and watched as fellow Texas Rangers starters piled up the pitches during the first three games against the Kansas City Royals.

After Cole Hamels became the first to go eight innings (on 107 pitches) Friday night, Darvish was determined to match his left-handed co-ace.

He even made a friendly bet with pitching coach Doug Brocail.

“He was a little irritated that everybody got to go to 100 [pitches], or 96,” Brocail with a sly smile. “He kind of let me know, ‘Hey, today, I’m going eight.’ ”

In Sunday’s finale at Globe Life Park, Darvish, indeed, went eight innings, holding the Royals to two solo homers in the third as the Rangers swept the four-game set with a 5-2 win.

It’s the first time Darvish has pitched eight innings since June 28, 2014. His 113 pitches were the most since Aug. 9, 2014, which he threw in a four-inning loss at Houston. That was his last start before undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2015.

“Yes, I felt the strongest since I came back from Tommy John surgery,” said Darvish, who struck out eight and walked one.

After two solo homers to Mike Moustakas and Jorge Bonifacio in the third, Darvish faced the minimum over the next five innings. He retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced, including the final seven. His velocity increased later in the game, with pitch No. 113 clocked at 96 mph.

After retiring the side with a strikeout in the seventh, he told Brocail he was good to go. After being pulled at 82 pitches Tuesday in Oakland, Darvish was preemptive.

Back in the dugout, Brocail told him he was at 99 pitches. Darvish told him it felt more like 88.

“So I said, all right, have at it,” Brocail said. “He was phenomenal today.”

It wasn’t just Darvish’s fastball, which he used effectively on both sides of the plate, but his changeup that kept Royals hitters fooled.

“His changeup was unbelievable,” said catcher Robinson Chirinos, who homered in the eighth, his third in the four-game series to push the lead to 5-2. “His curveball, his slider, his fastball in to lefties, his cutter away to righties. He did everything outstanding today ... and I think he’s going to get better and better.”

The Rangers scored a run in the third and two in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. Joey Gallo’s sixth homer of the season in the sixth made it 4-2. Matt Bush pitched a perfect ninth to earn his first save as the Rangers’ current closer.

The afternoon, however, belonged to Darvish, who seemed destined to prove he was “durable” enough to go deeper.

“When I went back to the dugout [after the seventh], Brocail asked me if I can still go, and I said I feel like I can go more. That was it,” he said.

The club had to be careful with Darvish’s pitch count a year ago in his first season after surgery, Brocail said. Now, two years removed, he shows no signs of Tommy John.

“This guy has four really good pitches. When he pitches in, out and up and down with it? Good luck to you,” Brocail said. “I’m not saying he’s Cy Young, but he could be Cy Young. It was an impressive game. It was an impressive [string] by our entire staff this week.”

Starting deep

The Rangers’ rotation put together four strong starts to sweep the Royals, including the first two games of at least eight innings by Cole Hamels (Friday) and Yu Darvish (Sunday). A look at the string of starts:

This story was originally published April 23, 2017 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Yu Darvish leaves no doubt as Rangers sweep Royals."