Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish posted the 50th win of his major league career on Tuesday, pitching seven strong innings to help lift the Texas Rangers over the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 for their seventh straight victory.
Darvish (4-2), who threw a two-hitter through six scoreless innings, gave up one run and four hits while striking out nine in his 95-pitch outing at Globe Life Park in Arlington to become the sixth Japanese pitcher to reach the 50-win milestone.
"I almost think it's a bit late (for a pitcher to get 50 wins). I should have been throwing more," said Darvish, who returned from a 14-month injury layoff in May 2016.
"(Rangers catcher Robinson) Chirinos was being smart with pitch selection and my pitches were good too," he said of his performance in Tuesday's game.
Darvish allowed Michael Saunders to reach on a fielder's choice and come around to score on a Freddy Galvis RBI single in the seventh, but limited the damage to one run by getting Brock Stassi to strike out swinging with runners on the corners to end the inning.
Jerad Eickhoff (0-4) was tagged with his fourth loss of the season after giving up three runs -- two earned -- and seven hits, including a solo shot to Nomar Mazara in the first, in six innings of work.
The 30-year-old Darvish joined the Rangers in 2012 after seven seasons with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Nippon Professional Baseball, but missed the entire 2015 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in March that year.
In his comeback season in 2016 he went 7-5 in 17 starts, and this year he was named the Opening Day starter for the first time in his major league career, though he wasn't involved in the decision in the April 3 game against the Cleveland Indians.
At Marlins Park in Miami, Norichika Aoki singled in the ninth for one of the Houston Astros' 14 hits in a 12-2 victory over the Miami Marlins.
The hit moved Aoki to within 11 hits of his career 2,000 combined in Japan and the United States.
Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki grounded out in his only pinch-hit at-bat in the seventh.
"I watched him (Ichiro) practice before the game and that helped me create a visual image of myself at the plate. It's impressive how often he hits into the stands in batting practice," Aoki said of his Japanese compatriot and 17th-year veteran Suzuki.
At Wrigley Field in Chicago, Koji Uehara surrendered two runs on two hits, including a two-run homer to Joey Votto, in the seventh as the third of five Chicago Cubs pitchers to take the mound. The Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-5.
