Darvish shows he's an ace even in first loss

More than a month into the season, the Texas Rangers are
looking pretty darn good.

With an 18-10 mark, they sit atop the American League West.
The bullpen is solid and the offense causes headaches for opposing pitchers —
as long as Adrian Beltre and Josh Hamilton stay healthy.



And then there’s Yu Darvish, who has quickly become the ace of the staff.



Even though Darvish didn't pitch up to his lofty standards in Sunday’s 4-2 loss
to Cleveland, he still gave the Rangers a chance to win by pitching six innings
without much in the way of fastball command. It just so happened that his lack
of command and the lack of his defense to make plays behind him spoiled
Darvish's chances of running his record to 5-0 in his rookie year.



But what Darvish (4-1) did again Sunday was show why he's the closest thing to
a legitimate ace the Rangers have had since Cliff Lee's brief stay with the
club in 2010.



There's a buzz every time Darvish pitches, the same way it was when Lee was
here. Or Nolan Ryan. You can look back in the history of the club and there's
probably just a handful of pitchers that have the ability to make something
special happen each time they pitch. Lee had it. Ryan certainly did.



So does Darvish.



He showed that Sunday too. He threw way too many pitches (112) in his six
innings, but some of those pitches were unhittable. The curveball was his best
pitch and helped pave the way for 11 strikeouts, the most by a Texas pitcher
this season and the most since C.J. Wilson struck out 11 last September against
Oakland.



Darvish has already reached double figures in strikeouts twice this season,
something Wilson did six times in 34 starts last season.



One facet of Darvish's game that makes him ace-worthy is his ability to work
out of jams. He did it in both the first and second innings. The strikeout of
Jack Hannahan to end the second inning made opponents just 7-for-40 against
Darvish with runners in scoring position this year.



Of course it all unraveled in the third, but it wasn't solely Darvish's fault.
Ian Kinsler lost a pop fly off the bat of Johnny Damon to open the inning. A
walk to Jason Kipnis set the stage for Asdrubal Cabrera, who lined a two-run
double down the right-field line.



That could have been all of the damage if Elvis Andrus would have been content
to eat a Shin-Soo Choo infield grounder instead of trying for a highlight play.
The Andrus error allowed the third run to score.



But Darvish responded by pitching three more innings and allowing just one more
run on a Kipnis solo homer to lead off the fifth. Six of Darvish’s strikeouts came
after the third when the right-hander seemed to settle in.



Darvish is far from perfect. He still throws too many pitches. He was at 62
after just three innings on Sunday, dooming his chances of pitching deep into
the game. He still has problems vs. left-handers, too. Cleveland started a
lineup with nine players hitting from the left side. That was a wise move
against a pitcher who was allowing lefties to hit .263 against him coming into
the game.



Colby Lewis is still the veteran stabilizer on the Rangers staff. Derek Holland
and Matt Harrison have more good days than bad from the left side. Neftali
Feliz is still a work in progress.



But Darvish is a No. 1 starter right now. He showed that against the New York
Yankees. He did it against Detroit and Toronto.



His next start on Friday will be the most anticipated game of the season since
Darvish made his debut. That’s when he'll go head-to-head against Wilson, who
now pitches for the Angels.



It was Wilson last year who was the team's No. 1 starter. That was by default
though because the Rangers didn’t have any other pitcher ready to take over
that role.



They do now.