Yu Darvish goes 8 innings with 2 ERs for 9th win of the season.

SAN DIEGO — Once Yu Darvish settled down after the second inning, the San Diego Padres didn’t have a chance. Darvish held San Diego to five hits over eight innings and got his first major league hit to help the Texas Rangers beat the Padres 4-2 on Wednesday for their sixth straight win.

Yu Darvish (9-4), who struck out eight and walked three, leads all big league rookies with nine victories. He pitched for Japan at Petco Park in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

“He just couldn’t find his rhythm to get the ball where he wanted to,” manager Ron Washington said of Darvish, who allowed a two-run single to Padres starter Anthony Bass in the second inning. “He just kept emphasizing what he needed to do. After the second inning, when they scored those runs, he finally did it. Once he found it, he was on from there on. He just began to pound the strike zone. The sixth, seventh and eighth innings were innings that a good pitcher shows you he’s not going to be denied. Once we took the lead, it was over.”

Darvish hit a broken-bat single in the third for his first big league hit. He was promptly doubled off first after Amarista, the second baseman, caught Ian Kinsler’s liner, ending the inning.

via Yu Darvish settles down to lead Rangers to 6th straight win, 4-2 over Padres – The Washington Post.