Rangers Win Eighth Straight on Yu Darvish One-Hitter; Dexter Fowler Leads Rockies in 14-2 Win over Padres

Players of the Day for Monday, August 12, 2013

American League

Holding onto their one-game lead in the AL West over Oakland, the Texas Rangers scored all of their runs in the first inning of their 2-1 win over Houston; starting pitcher, Yu Darvish, made sure those runs stood up.

Darvish: 1-hitter

Darvish (12-5), who leads the AL in strikeouts, didn't allow a hit until the eighth inning, when Carlos Corporan took him deep for Houston's only run. Unhittable until then, Darvish fanned 15 Astros, upping his total to 207, well ahead of Seattle's Felix Hernandez, who is second, with 178.

Perfect into the sixth inning, Darvish fanned the side in the first and fifth innings, but gave up a walk to Jonathan Villar with one out in the sixth, after striking out five in a row. Catcher A.J. Pierzynsky was ejected for arguing the call and replaced by Giovani Soto, who finished the game behind the plate.

After Corporan's one-out homer in the eighth, Darvish dispatched the next two batters to end the inning and his night, with a one-hitter, having thrown 115 pitches.

Joe Nathan came on to complete the win, getting the Astros in order in the ninth for his 35th save, tying him with Mariano Rivera for second in the league. Baltimore's Jim Johnson leads, with 39 saves.

Having completed the sweep at Houston, the Rangers return home for eight games, beginning Tuesday with a two-game set with the Brewers. Game one is set for an 8:05 pm EDT start. Texas has won 13 of their last 14 games.

National League

Dexter Fowler

Having one of the bumpiest seasons in their history, the Colorado Rockies certainly aren't short on hitting when they have a pitcher - or a whole staff - on the ropes, and that starts with their leadoff man, Dexter Fowler, who is having a solid season, despite Colorado being out of the NL West and wild card races.

In four at-bats in the Rockies' 14-2 Monday mauling of the Padres, Fowler rapped out three singles, driving in four runs and scoring twice as the Rockies pounded starter Edinson Volquez and a pair of relievers for 17 hits.

The Rockies are 56-64, good for third place in the NL West, where they trail the Dodgers by 13 games. They are nearly as distant in the wild card race, where St. Louis and Cincinnati seem to have a hammer-lock on the two wild card slots.

The win was the fourth straight for Colorado, but they've been uneven since the All Star break going 10-14 over that span.

Game two of their three-game series with the visiting Padres is set for 8:40 pm EDT.

Today's Trivia: The career record for games (or appearances) by a pitcher is 1252. Who holds that mark? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: The AL single-season record for walks allowed is held by Bob Feller, who issued 208 bases on balls in 1938.