Yu Darvish and Kenta Maeda combined to allow only one run in Los Angeles Dodgers sweep of Arizona Diamondbacks to go to NLCS

Texas Rangers fans, prepare yourself. It could be a couple of weeks of ‘if onlys’ and ‘woulda shouldas.’

Former Rangers ace Yu Darvish won his first-career post-season game late Monday night, helping the Los Angeles Dodgersadvance to the NLCS with a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Darvish struck out seven and allowed one run on two hits over five innings.

The right-hander was traded to the Dodgers on July 31 for three prospects.

He was 0-2 in the post-season for Texas, including a loss in Game 2 of the ALDS a year ago against the Toronto Blue Jays. He allowed five runs on five hits, including four home runs, in five innings in a game that put the Rangers in an 0-2 series hole.

The Dodgers play the winner between the Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals. The Cubs lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 beginning at 3:38 p.m. Tuesday at Wrigley Field. The best-of-seven NLCS starts Saturday at Dodgers Stadium.

Darvish will be a free agent after the season, which is one of the reasons the Rangers were open to trading him. In his last three regular-season starts for the Dodgers, Darvish allowed one run with 21 strikeouts and one walk in  19 1/3 innings.

Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish reacts after striking out Diamondbacks batter J.D. Martinez to end the fourth inning in Game 3 of the NLDS at Chase Field Monday night. The Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 to sweep the series and advance to the NLCS.

Source: Texas Rangers: Yu Darvish earns his first playoff win for Dodgers | Fort Worth Star-Telegram