Brant's Freshman Year: April 2012

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yu Darvish is getting better each time out for the Texas Rangers.
The Japanese standout may already be getting to a point when he will have a hard time topping himself, after striking out 10 and pitching into the ninth inning of a 2-0 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday night."After my last start, I mentioned my command is starting to come together. Stuff-wise, there wasn't much difference," Darvish said through his interpreter. "I still like to think that there's still more in me."

Yu Darvish's expansive arsenal of pitches is impressive. But it's his ability to maintain and effectively use all of them that makes the Rangers pitcher special, writes Buster Olney.

Ian Kinsler put the Rangers ahead to stay when he led off the first with a deep homer to left-center off Hiroki Kuroda (1-3), who limited Texas to two runs and five hits over 6 2/3 innings.In only his fourth major league start, and the seventh MLB matchup of Japanese starters, Darvish (3-0) worked out of some early jams and got through 8 1/3 scoreless innings even while allowing seven hits.Effective with his large array of pitches, including a fastball in the upper 90s and several biting breaking balls, the 25-year-old right-hander had a season-low two walks, and the 10 strikeouts were the most by a Texas pitcher this season."He just keeps getting better every time he takes the ball. Tonight, he used everything he had, and he was effective, very effective. He's getting more and more comfortable," manager Ron Washington said. "He was pounding the strike zone. That's what you have to do against that team. He threw everything but the kitchen sink at them."