Yu Darvish Wins Texas Rangers Debut [PICS]

Japanese pitching phenom Yu Darvish made his Major League Baseball, and Texas Rangers, debut last night at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in front of 42,000 fans. The Rangers pulled out a come-from-behind 11-5 win over the Seattle Mariners.

It was a rough start for Yu, he allowed 5 runs in his first two innings. But he then settled down, pitching a total of 5.2 innings, striking out 5, walking 4 and giving up 8 hits. Darvish picked up the win after the Rangers offense picked him up with runs in the first, third and fourth innings.

The first 2 Ranger runs came in the bottom of the first, cutting the Mariners lead to 4-2. Ian Kinsler scored on a Michael Young single and Adrian Beltre scored on a Nelson Cruz single.  The Rangers then took the lead in the bottom of the third with 3 runs. Nelson Cruz hit a 3-run homer to left field, also scoring Beltre and Young.  The next 3 Ranger runs came in the fourth, also via the home run.  Mitch Moreland homered to right, also driving in Mike Napoli. Then two outs later, Josh Hamilton homered to the grassy knoll in center.

Darvish talked about his time on the mound to MLB.com, "Today, when I stepped on the mound for the first time, I was very calm. I felt very calm mentally, but my body felt like it wanted to go and go and go. My mind and my body were not on the same page. All my pitches I had a hard time commanding. It was more of a mental battle. I just tried to stay in there and battle."

When asked about the Rangers potent offense, "Incredible," Darvish said, "Just watching it was incredible."

Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington discussed Yu's nervousness, "It just seemed like he couldn't get a hold of his emotions. He was really amped up, but he showed what kind of battler and warrior he is. Nobody thought he would be pitching into the sixth inning, but he did. We did a good job of supporting him and he did a good job of supporting us. That game could have gotten out of hand but it didn't. He battled."

SportsRadio 1340 The Fan Dallas correspondent Andrew Kaufmann attended Yu's debut. He quipped after the game, "Yu had to see it."

Darvish faced was fellow countryman Ichiro Suzuki four times. Ichiro went 3 for 4 with a double.

The Rangers continue their series against the Seattle Mariners Tuesday night.