Texas Rangers right-hander Yu Darvish said Sunday he was able to put on his strongest showing since elbow reconstruction surgery in 2015 as he helped his team beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2.

Darvish, who threw a season-high eight innings in his fifth start of the season, gave up two runs and five hits, including solo shots to Mike Moustakas and Jorge Bonifacio in the third, while striking out eight and walking one at Globe Life Park in Arlington.

Darvish pitched seven innings in his third start on April 13 for his previous high, and had jokingly complained to pitching coach Doug Brocail how he was not allowed to throw as much as teammate Cole Hamels, who threw 107 pitches in eight innings of work on Friday.

The Japanese 30-year-old got his opportunity two days later and made the most of it, finishing with 79 strikes out of 113 pitches for his second win, while Royals starter Jason Hammel (0-2) threw 84 pitches and lasted only three innings.

"I think it was the strongest outing I had since I returned from Tommy John (surgery)," said Darvish, who missed the entire 2015 season after undergoing surgery on his right elbow in March that year.

"I was still seeing speed in my pitches in the eighth inning, which was a confidence boost. I felt perfectly fine throwing in the eighth and I wanted to prove I can still go that far," he said.

With the Rangers down 2-0 in the third, Elvis Andrus singled to make it 2-1, while Jurickson Profar drew a bases-loaded walk and Carlos Gomez followed with an RBI grounder to turn the game around in a two-run fourth.

Darvish also made up for his mistake by striking out both Moustakas and Bonifacio swinging in their at-bats following the homers.

"I swore to myself I would get them to strike out," said Darvish after the game as his ERA improved to 3.03.

At Tropicana Field in Florida, Norichika Aoki went 2-for-3 as the Houston Astros rallied from four runs down to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-4 in 10 innings.

Brian McCann hit a tie-breaking single in the top of the 10th and Yuli Gurriel singled home another run -- both off Ryan Garton (0-1), who took the loss. Luke Gregerson (1-1) worked a scoreless ninth for the win.

Aoki's single in the fourth was his first hit in 10 at-bats. His fifth multi-hit game this season brings him closer to 2,000 hits in his pro career in the major leagues and Japan, needing 22 more to reach the milestone.