April 3, 2013

One Out Away

“One Out Away” was the theme for Rangers fans Tuesday night as they saw Yu Darvish’s bid for a perfect game ended after he completed 8 2/3 innings. “One Out Away” was all I saw on my twitter feed after the perfect game bid was ended. One Out Away……

If you haven’t seen the hit that ended it all watch it here.

Marwin Gonzalez ruined the night on a cutter that didn’t cut on what was Darvish’s 111th and final pitch of the evening. He had pitched a gem all night striking out 14 Astros and only allowing one ball that was hit well, a Chris Carter fly out that David Murphy caught against the wall in left center.

“One Out Away” is a phrase that not only took center stage on what should have been Darvish’s night but it is also a phrase that has festered in the minds of Rangers fans since October 27, 2011.

Darvish wasn’t a member of the Texas Rangers or even playing for a team in Major League Baseball on that fateful night when the St. Louis Cardinals battled back against the Rangers to win Game 6 in extra innings. I think that game however, is one of the main reasons why they signed him out of Japan that offseason.

The Rangers knew they needed a dominant pitcher who could take the mound deep into games. He is proving more with every start that he can be that player.

From his first outing of his rookie season against the Mariners in which he walked the first batter of the game, Chone Figgins, and gave up five runs over 5 2/3 innings. To his first start of the 2013 season when he was “One Out Away” from a perfect game. This start was also his first start for the Rangers in which he did not walk a batter.

Darvish is the type of pitcher with the pitches he can command that will likely be in line for a few more of these games over his career. Maybe not potential perfect games, but we will all see dominant pitching performances from him for years. There are few players across sports that when they take the field you should stop and watch them and Yu Darvish is one of those players.

Maybe one day the Rangers will find a way to get that last out and as Anthony Andro tweeted, Ian Kinsler couldn’t have reiterated that thought better: