The Cleveland Indians handed Japanese standout Yu Darvish his first Major League loss as they jumped on the Texas Rangers pitcher for three runs in the third inning on the way to a 4-2 victory on May 6.
Ubaldo Jimenez pitched seven scoreless innings for the American League Central Division leading Indians as he out-performed Darvish.
"You have to go out there and bring your 'A' game because he's really tough," Jimenez, who struck out six and gave up two hits, told reporters. "I've seen him on TV, the guy is out there pitching well every time and giving his team a chance to win.
"The thing you put in your mind is that you have to go out there and compete really hard."
Darvish, whom the Rangers signed to a six-year deal worth almost $60 million, won his first four starts in the big leagues, but he lasted only six innings against the Indians.
"If this was my first loss, I might be emotional," Darvish said. "But in high school and as a professional in Japan, I had experiencing in losing a lot of games, so I'm not going to dwell on this."
Asdrubal Cabrera doubled home two runs, then scored on an infield single to give Cleveland a commanding lead in the third.
Jason Kipnis made it 4-0 with a fifth-inning home run, also off Darvish, who struck out 11 but gave up six hits.
"If we could have put up some runs on the board early, it might have been a different situation," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.
Texas, the West Division leader, scored twice in the eighth on Josh Hamilton's ground out to first and Michael Young's run scoring single.
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