Baseball Notes: Yu Darvish strikes out 14 for Rangers

Inconsistency was the key for Yu Darvish.

Darvish matched his major-league high with 14 strikeouts and the Texas Rangers won their fourth game in a row, 7-1 over Arizona on Thursday.

"Some of (the sliders) were dropping down, some of them were going sideways," Darvish said through an interpreter. "The movement on my slider was really inconsistent and that worked in my favor."

Darvish (10-5) had no walks, scattered five hits and struck out 10 of his first 13 batters.

"He was as good as I've seen him all year. His stuff was just nasty," said Texas' A.J. Pierzynski, also the catcher when Darvish retired the first 26 batters at Houston four months ago. "Nights like that are fun."

CRUZ UNDECIDED -- The Texas Rangers' Nelson Cruz said he hadn't decided whether to appeal if he is suspended as a result of Major League Baseball's latest drug investigation.

Cruz, whose 25 home runs and 73 RBIs lead the Rangers, is among 14 players targeted for discipline because of their relationship to Biogenesis of America, a closed Florida clinic accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs.

TWINS DEMOTIONS -- The Minnesota Twins optioned left-hander Scott Diamond and center fielder Aaron Hicks to Triple-A Rochester.

The Twins

made the moves after both players struggled in a 7-2 loss to Kansas City. Diamond (5-10) gave up seven runs on nine hits in five innings. Hicks went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts to drop his batting average to .192. Since the All-Star break, he is hitting .162 (7 for 43).

Source: http://www.sbsun.com/sports/ci_23781412/baseball-notes-yu-darvish-strikes-out-14-rangers?source=rss

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