And the Rangers first Powerade shower of 2019 goes to …

For much of the night, the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs took turns grinding Saturday’s game to a near standstill.

It was Yu Darvish’s return to Globe Life Park for the first time since he was traded away in 2017. It was also his first start since being shut down last May with a stress reaction in his throwing elbow.

Neither Darvish or Rangers’ starter Edinson Volquez brought their good stuff and it made the first four innings last an eternity.

But by the eighth, they were both long gone, and Joey Gallo turned the night around for the Rangers with one powerful blast. Gallo’s three-run homer on the first pitch he saw from Carl Edwards gave Texas a two-run lead and Jose Leclerc recorded his first save of the season as the Rangers evened the series with an 8-6 win.

“I just wanted to come through for the team,” Gallo said. “Honestly, I had a few opportunities early on and I didn’t come through. I knew if I got a pitch to hit I wasn’t going to miss it this time. It’s a good feeling for sure.”

Gallo’s first homer of 2019, which measured 433 feet at 110 mph according to Statcast, was set up by a lead-off single from Elvis Andrus and Nomar Mazara’s fourth walk of the game.

The Cubs had built a 6-3 lead through five innings despite Darvish’s struggles. For the first time in his career he failed to go at least three innings and he walked an astounding seven betters, a career-high. He threw 35 of his 75 pitches in the first inning when he started with strikeouts of Shin-Soo Choo and Rougned Odor before walking Elvis Andrus, Nomar Mazara and Joey Gallo to load the basis. He escaped unscathed by getting perhaps a generous call on a strike-three check-swing by Asdrubal Cabrera from third-base umpire Jeff Kellogg.

A Rangers’ batter didn’t put a ball in play against Darvish until Rougned Odor, the 11th batter, singled on a line drive to right field in the second. He left with two outs in the third, leading 4-3. Of his 75 pitches, he threw only 38 strikes.

Volquez struggled with command as well. He allowed four runs on six hits and four walks in four innings. After Jeanmar Gomez allowed two runs in the fifth, the Rangers’ bullpen shut down the Cubs, holding them scoreless on one hit the final four innings.

The Rangers left 12 runners on base and were 3 for 12 with runners in scoring position, including one by Gallo.

“Power is my game, so I knew if I got a pitch over the plate I was going to try to change the scoreboard,” he said. “I left guys on base. It was tough to see. But we just kept fighting. We knew we’d have more opportunities I just so happened to be the guy today.”

This story was originally published March 30, 2019 at 11:47 PM.