Cubs' Darvish struggles in loss to Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas — Things began well enough for Yu Darvish Saturday night at Globe Life Park.
Staked to a 3-0 lead by his Chicago Cubs teammates, Darvish took the mound to face his former team, the Texas Rangers. He began by striking out Shin-Soo Choo and Rougned Odor.
Things then got, well, interesting. Wildly interesting.
Darvish walked the next three batters before striking out Asdrubal Cabrera to end the inning. Thirty-five pitches, 18 strikes, no balls in play.
The Cubs clung to a 6-5 heading into the bottom of the eighth, but Carl Edwards Jr. gave up a single and a walk before Joey Gallo launched a 3-run homer to give the Rangers an 8-6 victory.
Darvish inspired no confidence in his first start since last May 20.
He lasted just 2⅔ innings, giving up 2 hits but with 7 walks and a wild pitch. Of his 75 pitches thrown, 38 were strikes.
“The first couple guys, I felt good,” he said. “But after that, I lost my command, especially the fastball. I can't tell why right now. I have to look at the video tomorrow. It was all about me.
Darvish enjoyed a good spring training, and except for a finger blister, he was healthy, leading the Cubs to voice cautious optimism leading up to his first start of the regular season.
“Listen, the stuff from down there is really good,” said manager Joe Maddon, whose team is 1-1. “It's just about where it's going. Great stuff. The velocity was good. Breaking ball was good. We just have to be in the strike zone a little more consistently because that kind of stuff is definitely going to play post fifth inning, sixth inning, seventh inning. He just has to get in the zone, and we'll get him there.”
Darvish walked the first three batters of the second inning before striking out Choo again.
The first ball in play against Darvish came on his 58th pitch of the game, an RBI single by Odor. Darvish gave up a 2-run homer to Cabrera in the third and exited after getting Ronald Guzman on a comebacker to the mound. It must be noted, in fairness, that Darvish threw a strike to first baseman Anthony Rizzo to complete the play.
Questions will continue to persist about Darvish, who signed a six-year, $126 million contract last year before making only 8 starts. A right-triceps injury put him on the injured list, and he finally underwent an arthroscopic elbow cleanup in September.
The Cubs turned to Steve Cishek, normally a late-inning reliever, to finish the third. From there, No. 5 starting pitcher Jose Quintana came in and worked 4 innings, throwing 81 pitches.
Another source of concern is Edwards, who will be needed late, especially with closer Brandon Morrow on the injured list for the first month of the season.
“That was not the Carl we're used to seeing,” Maddon said. “That's a great spot for him right there coming off a great camp. I really kind of felt good about it.”
“I just know it wasn't a good pitch at the end of the day,” Edwards said of the home run. “We'll see how the next outing goes. The (velocity) will probably be up. I've got a lot of anger in me right now, so just put it out there.”
Rangers starting pitcher Edinson Volquez walked four in his 4 innings of work. The Cubs took a 6-3 lead in the sixth on a solo homer by Kyle Schwarber and a sacrifice fly by Jason Heyward.