It was an old-fashioned Japanese pitching duel all night. Yu Darvish and Hisashi Iwakuma were pitching well, and it was a 2-1 game going into the eighth inning.
That's when the Rangers broke it open with seven runs in the eighth. Josh Hamilton had an RBI double, Geovany Soto came through with a two-run double and Elvis Andrus delivered the final blow with a bases-clearing, three-run triple.
"Very pleased," manager Ron Washington said of the eighth. "It was a struggle all night. Their pitcher was matching Yu and it was a tight ballgame. It's nice just to break it open."
Darvish earned his 15th win of the season, allowing one run on two hits with two walks and nine strikeouts over seven strong innings. Koji Uehara then held the Rangers' 2-1 lead in tact with a nine-pitch eighth.
Darvish and Uehara were the two stars for the Rangers.
"I thought Yu was outstanding," Washington said. "He was able to use his pitches, his cutter was working. And he was good with the slow breaking ball and he made them swing the bat -- that was the most important thing.
"[Uehara] did an excellent job, excellent job. Our plan was to give him the ball in the eighth."
Here are a few other notes:
* With his nine strikeouts, Darvish joined the 200-strikeout club. He is the 16th rookie to reach that milestone in the modern era (since 1900). Darvish is the first rookie to do it since Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007 with the Red Sox.
* It was also Darvish's best start against the Seattle Mariners, as he was 1-2 with a 9.00 ERA going into it. "The difference between going against them tonight and my previous outings was just throwing strikes," Darvish said. "Or, more precisely, not feeling like I have to throw strikes. I think that's the difference."
* Josh Hamilton went 2 for 5 with a solo homer and run-scoring double. He extended his major league lead in home runs to 42 and RBIs to 123.
* Ian Kinsler led off the first with a solo home run. It was his sixth leadoff home run of the season, which leads the majors.
* Geovany Soto snapped an 0-for-15 slump with a two-run double in the eighth. ... Elvis Andrus had a double, triple and three RBIs in the eighth. He had just three RBIs in his previous 18 games.
-- Drew Davison
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