Darvish one shy of perfect

HOUSTON - Yu Darvish was one out from a perfect game when Marwin Gonzalez grounded a clean single through the pitcher's legs, and the Texas Rangers beat the Houston Astros, 7-0, on Tuesday night.

The celebrated righthander from Japan struck out 14 and appeared to be in complete control before Gonzalez smacked the first pitch up the middle. Darvish was unable to get his glove down in time and the ball skittered into center field well beyond a desperate dive by shortstop Elvis Andrus.

Darvish put up his hands - almost as if, "Oh well, it happens" - after the single. The Texas infielders immediately came to the mound, and manager Ron Washington joined them. Washington patted Darvish on the chest and then signaled for a reliever. A crowd that included lots of Rangers fans cheered Darvish.

He sat on the bench to watch the rest of the game, and took part in the congratulations line when it ended.

Darvish became the first pitcher to lose a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning since Armando Galarraga on June 2, 2010. Of course, the Detroit pitcher was denied only because of an infamous missed call at first base by umpire Jim Joyce.

On the second full day of the major-league season, Darvish nearly picked up right where baseball left off last year, when there were a record three perfect games, thrown by Philip Humber, Matt Cain, and Felix Hernandez.

Rangers 7, Astros 0

Texas 001 000 222 – 7 12 0

Houston       000 000 000 – 0 2 0

Texas AB   R   H   BI   BB   SO   Avg.   

Kinsler 2b 4   2   2   2   1   1   .286

Andrus ss 4   1   3   1   1   0   .375

Berkman dh 4   0   3   2   1   0   .625

Beltre 3b 5   0   0   0   0   2   .000

Dav.Murphy lf 4   1   0   0   1   1   .143

N.Cruz rf 5   1   2   1   0   2   .500

Pierzynski c 3   0   0   0   0   0   .143

Moreland 1b 3   0   0   1   0   1   .000

Gentry cf 4   2   2   0   0   2   .500

Totals 36   7   12   7   4   9   

Houston AB   R   H   BI   BB   SO   Avg.   

Altuve 2b 4   0   1   0   0   2   .375

Wallace 3b 3   0   0   0   0   3   .143

a-J.Martinez ph 1   0   0   0   0   1   .000

C.Pena 1b 3   0   0   0   0   1   .143

Carter lf 3   0   0   0   0   2   .000

Ankiel rf 3   0   0   0   0   2   .200

Maxwell cf 3   0   0   0   0   2   .333

J.Castro dh 3   0   0   0   0   1   .000

Corporan c 3   0   0   0   0   0   .000

Ma.Gonzalez ss 3   0   1   0   0   1   .333

Totals 29   0   2   0   0   15   

a-struck out for Wallace in the 9th. LOB: Texas 8, Houston 2. 2B: N.Cruz (1), Gentry (1). 3B: Andrus 2 (2), Gentry (1). HR: Kinsler (1), off R.Cruz. RBIs: Kinsler 2 (2), Andrus (1), Berkman 2 (2), N.Cruz (2), Moreland (1). SF: Moreland. RLSP: Texas 3 (Dav.Murphy 2, Beltre); Houston 1 (J.Martinez). RISP–Texas 4 for 8; Houston 0 for 1. RA: Pierzynski. GIDP: Pierzynski, Moreland. DP: Houston 2 (Harrell, Ma.Gonzalez, C.Pena), (Harrell, Ma.Gonzalez, C.Pena).

Texas IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Darvish (W 1-0) 82/3   1   0   0   0   14   111   0.00

Kirkman 1/3   1   0   0   0   1   10   0.00

Houston IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Harrell (L 0-1) 6   6   1   1   2   4   97   1.50

X.Cedeno 1/3   1   1   1   0   1   10   27.00

R.Cruz 2/3   2   1   1   0   0   13   13.50

W.Wright 2/3   1   2   2   1   0   15   27.00

Fields 1/3   0   0   0   0   1   6   0.00

Veras 1   2   2   2   1   3   21   18.00

IR-S: Kirkman 1-0, R.Cruz 1-1. IBB: off Harrell (Berkman). HBP: by Harrell (Pierzynski). Umpires: Home, Paul Nauert; first, Andy Fletcher; second, Chris Conroy; third, Sam Holbrook.

T: 2:54. A: 22,673 (42,060).