The entire Houston Astros starting lineup makes less than Alex Rodriguez, and it showed as Yu Darvish toyed with the new kids in the American League for 8 innings and two outs. Facing the ninth hitter in the worst lineup in baseball, Darvish must have taken a deep breath before throwing his first pitch.
Whatever he did, it wasn't enough, as Marwin Gonzalez knocked a single up the middle on his 111th and final pitch of the night. Darvish struck out 14 on the night, the most of any Rangers pitcher since Nolan Ryan back in 1991.
Darvish's dominant performance keeps the momentum of strong pitching performances going. There were three perfect games last season.
Houston losing also continues a trend, as they've lost 100 games in the last two seasons. It's a feeling they will likely get familiar with again this season, and it wouldn't be a surprise if they were victims of someone else's perfect game or no-no after watching their basically anonymous lineup take wild swings at pitches bouncing in the dirt throughout the night.
