Yu Darvish struck out 10 over seven dominant innings and helped the Chicago Cubs prevent a series sweep with a 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
The Japanese right-hander scattered six hits and limited the Cubs' crosstown rivals to one run at Wrigley Field on the way to earning his fifth straight win -- a career best -- in six starts this season.
"It's going better now than when I was doing well in the second half of last year," Darvish said after the game.
Darvish surrendered a leadoff homer in the second to Jose Abreu, who tied a major league record after hitting his fourth home run in four straight at-bats.
"I think he's going to hit no matter who is pitching right now," Darvish said of the Cuban-born slugger.
Relying on his slider more than usual, Darvish notched double-digit strikeouts for the second time this season against a lineup that had scored 17 runs against Cubs' pitchers over the first two games in the series.
"The secondary stuff is just so, so good," Cubs manager David Ross said according to MLB.com. "And the way he commands it, it's fun to watch. I tell him that all the time. It's a credit to him and knowing himself and continuing to work the lineup, work his strengths off that."
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Kyle Schwarber provided Darvish some offensive support with a two-run blast in the sixth, and Jeremy Jeffress pitched out of jams in the eighth and ninth for his third save.
The Cubs improved to 17-10 and remain atop the National League Central standings.
At Oakland Coliseum, Shohei Ohtani snapped an 0-for-19 hitless streak with a towering three-run homer but the Los Angeles Angels fell 5-4 to the Oakland Athletics in extra innings.
"I had a chance, so I'm just glad I connected," Ohtani said. "I didn't intend to swing so hard, but it had some good range. It was an at-bat that will lead to more from now on."
Ohtani struck out in the first before ending the worst hitless skid of his career in the third by hammering a 2-1 sinker from Oakland starter Frankie Montas to left center field to overturn the A's lead.
Oakland tied the game in the sixth before winning on a walk-off sacrifice fly from Mark Canha in the 10th.
