Yu Darvish toyed with the Houston Astros overmatched lineup Wednesday night, going eight and two thirds perfect innings, before giving up a single to Astros shortstop Marwin Gonzalez. It was the only hit Darvish surrendered in his masterful, one-hit performance, in which he struck out a career-high14 batters while walking none, leading Texas to a 7-0 win.
Darvish made a name for himself last year in Texas, coming from Japan and instantly establishing himself as a frontline starting pitcher. On Wednesday, however, Darvish was one out shy of becoming immortal. With one out to go Gonzalez put his bat on the ball and sent it up the middle, through Darvish's legs and past a diving Elvis Andrus.
When the ball bounced into the outfield for a hit, Darvish had one thought, according to ESPN.com. "I can now go back to the dugout," he deadpanned. "Even if I got the complete game today, it's not going to translate to three or five wins. It's a win. A win's a win." Darvish is the first pitcher to lose a perfect game with one out left since Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers was robbed of perfection by a blown call at first base.
A.J. Pierzynski, who was the catcher for White Sox pitcher Philip Humber's perfect game, said Darvish's wide array of pitches was a key factor in keeping Houston's lineup off balance.
"When I tell you we threw everything, we threw everything. We threw the kitchen sink tonight, but Yu has the ability to do that and he's special."
Gonzalez, who helped the Astros avoid history for a second straight season, said, "I didn't want to be the last out," Gonzalez said. "I was trying to look for a good pitch to hit and put it in play. That's all I was thinking." Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants threw a perfect game against Houston last season.
Darvish's perfect game bid was made all the more impressive by the tight score for much of the night. Texas took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a Lance Berkman single, but that was all Darvish had to work with until the seventh inning.
Eventually, the Rangers heated up and poured in six runs over the final three innings to make the score 7-0. Berkman and Ian Kinsler led the charge with two RBI each.
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