Yu Darvish eyes taking Rangers into break on winning note

Yu Darvish is okay with not pitching at the All-Star Game on Tuesday. He understands since he’s pitching the first-half finale Sunday against the Angels, it’s not wise to come back two days later and get on a mound.

“It is what it is,” said Darvish, who earned his fourth All-Star nod. “We talked and looked at the schedule and we’re thinking about the second half. I agreed that maybe this is what we needed to do.”

Besides, Darvish said, the coolest thing about the All-Star Game is hanging out and talking baseball with the other All-Stars.

Darvish is coming off his worst start of the season when he was tagged for seven earned runs on 11 hits (both tied career-highs) over 4 1/3 innings on Tuesday.

“There’s nothing I can do. You don’t want to think about it too much,” said Darvish, who’d like to take the Rangers into the break on a winning note.

“It’s going to make a big difference if we win that game or lose, so my intention is to win the game as always so we can have a good week,” he said.

This story was originally published July 8, 2017 at 8:41 PM with the headline "Yu Darvish eyes taking Rangers into break on winning note."