Texas Rangers’ Adrian Beltre (right) reaches first base safely after Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (left) and pitcher Tony Sipp collide in the seventh inning of their MLB interleague baseball game in Arlington, Texas on Thursday. (Reuters)
AFP/New York
Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish matched his major league career high with 14 strikeouts Thursday to lead the Texas Rangers to a 7-1 win over Arizona.
Darvish, who also struck out 14 Diamondbacks on May 27, gave up five singles and didn’t surrender a walk in seven scoreless innings.
In three starts since coming off the disabled list he has allowed just one run.
“He was just outstanding tonight. Everything he threw up there, they just couldn’t get on,” said Rangers manager Ron Washington, whose 580th career win as a manager put him one short of matching Bobby Valentine for most in club history.
Darvish has struck out 14 batters four times this year.
“I feel like when he goes out there he’s looking to strike 10-plus out every night,” Arizona outfielder Adam Eaton said of Darvish. “He has the stuff to do it.”
The Rangers smacked solo home runs in three consecutive innings off Arizona rookie Zeke Spruill, who was tagged for five runs and seven hits in four innings in his first major league start.
Meanwhile, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez departed the team’s minor league complex Thursday, destination unknown, after completing a simulated game at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida.
There was no media access to the game, but it was Rodriguez’s final appearance on the first leg of his minor league rehabilitation assignment. He fielded his position at third base and ran the bases between six at-bats. The Yankees announced he saw 31 total pitches. Whether there will be a next stop in baseball for Rodriguez and when remains a cliffhanger. He briefly stopped to communicate with print reporters, but when a flock of television cameras noticed Rodriguez was talking, they crashed the scene and Rodriguez fled in his car.
The Yankees indicated earlier in the week that Rodriguez could be bumped to Double-A Trenton, which was part of his 13-game rehab leg from July 2 through July 20.
Elsewhere, The Toronto Blue Jays activated right-handed reliever Sergio Santos from the 60-day disabled list Thursday and placed Dustin McGowan on the shelf with a right oblique strain.
Santos saved 30 games for the Chicago White Sox in 2011 and was dealt to Toronto that offseason.
The right-hander missed most of the 2012 season with a right shoulder injury and appeared in just five games this season before landing on the DL with a right triceps strain on April 14. He then had surgery on this right elbow to remove bone spurs.