Arlington, TX – It was a rough start for Yu Darvish, but he settled down to pitch into the sixth inning and the bats picked him up as Texas clobbered Seattle, 11-5, in the opener of a three-game set.
After a fee of $51.7 million to Japan's Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and a six-year, $60 million contract in the offseason, Darvish (1-0) was torched for four runs in the first inning, but settled down to finish his start giving up five runs on eight hits with four walks and five strikeouts over 5 2/3 frames.
Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz each hit a three-run home run while Mitch Moreland added a two-run home run and two runs scored for the Rangers, who took two of three from the White Sox to start the season.
Kyle Seager went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored while Ichiro Suzuki added three hits and two runs scored for the Mariners, who took a pair of games from Oakland on Friday and Saturday. Hector Noesi (0-1) was banged up for seven runs on six hits with three walks over just three-plus innings of work.
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