The Yu Darvish Perfect Game That Wasn't

I was fairly certain that I was going to witness history in the making on Tuesday night, when Rangers ace Yu Darvish took the mound at Houston for his first start of the season. Darvish overmatched everyone in the Astros' anemic lineup, making it appear like he was pitching to a group of little leaguers. This was plain ridiculous, and I was loving every minute of it.

Darvish took a perfect game into the ninth inning, and it was pacing time. This occurs when I'm too riled up to sit down and must remain standing, often times pacing around my apartment in serious fashion as if I'm a college basketball coach during March Madness. I wasn't expecting to pace during the second game of the season. It's so early. But history was in the balance.

The night became memorable when Darvish retired the first two batters of the ninth inning, leaving only Marwin Gonzalez (Who? Yep, that'd be the Astros' No. 9 hitter) as the final man to retire. Of course, Gonzalez slapped a ground ball back up the middle, through Darvish's legs and into centerfield for a base hit. The perfect game was ruined. By the final batter, a dude who hit .234 in 80 games last year, his first in the big leagues.

Marwin Gonzalez is the new Buzz Killington.

Manager Ron Washington pulled Darvish immediately after the base hit, as his pitch count reached 111. The final line: 8.2 IP, H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 14 K's. Yikes.

Darvish hurled his pitches with so much movement. Even on replay in slow motion, the ball confused me with its late breaking/tailing/spinning action. I can only imagine what it was like for the poor Astros' hitters, who barely lifted the ball out of the infield, save for a Chris Carter warning-track shot caught my David Murphy.

If we have this kind of Darvish for 2013, we will be a legitimate threat in the American League. This is pure ace stuff, like when Texas had Cliff Lee for the stretch run in 2010. He's a stopper that the Rangers can turn to if and when they face Detroit and Justin Verlander; or Anaheim and Jered Weaver; or the Rays and David Price. We have our own ace on the mound, and the guy can flat-out dominate, which will be necessary for a playoff run in 2013.

Now, this was the Astros, who could be historically awful in 2013. But a near-perfect game tells me that Darvish is picking up where he left off in the final month of 2012, when he looked like a true ace. Outstanding news for the Rangers.

It was nice to take two of three to open the season in Houston. The starting pitching was excellent and missed bats for the entire series. Even though he struggled with command, Matt Harrison struck out nine in the opener. Yu was nearly perfect in striking out 14. Alexi Ogando closed out the series by fanning 10 in 6.1 innings on Wednesday. I don't expect that every game, but it was a nice way to start the season.

Texas is off Thursday before it gets really interesting. The home opener on Friday is against the Angels and Josh Hamilton, who will return to Arlington for the first time since he chose to leave as a free agent. As I wrote a few months ago, this one will be personal.