ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yu Darvish returned to his dominant form. The star pitcher allowed just four hits over eight sharp innings and the Texas Rangers beat Minnesota 5-0 on Saturday, handing the Twins their fifth straight loss. Darvish (8-4) allowed only one hit and one walk after the second inning in lowering his earned run average to 2.42 following two consecutive defeats and his home ERA to 1.83. With 10 strikeouts, he hit double digits for the fifth in his last eight starts. Adrian Beltre had three hits for the Rangers and scored Texas first run, which proved to be all the Rangers needed, in the second inning. Shin-Soo Chin and Leonys Martin added two hits each. "I thought he was Yu Darvish again," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "I dont care how good you are. There will be bumps in the road. There will be times when things dont go right. And that even can happen for Yu Darvish. It was good for him to go out there today and find his pitches that worked." Darvish, though, said he was unable to find a comfortable delivery throughout the game. "I just couldnt find the right one today," he said through an interpreter, "but I managed to pitch those eight innings. I cant say I was disappointed." No matter the delivery, Darvish frustrated the Twins with a cut fastball that was particularly effective against lefties. "Id say (Darvishs cutter) is probably his best pitch," said Twins DH Joe Mauer, whose first-inning single extended his hitting streak to a season-high nine games. "He can definitely make the ball move in a lot of different directions." Phil Hughes (8-4) lost for only the second time in eight road starts this season, allowing all five runs on 11 hits in 7 2-3 innings. "Its not been going our way as of late," Twins leftfielder Chris Parmelee said, "but our hitting will come around." Neal Cotts finished for Texas in a non-save situation and retired the side in order. The Rangers have won the first two of the three-game weekend series with the Twins following a season-long eight-game losing streak. The shutout was Texas 14 of the season, tops in the American League and one short of the St. Louis Cardinals major league leading total. Beltre scored on a double by Chris Gimenez on a fly to straight-away centre that sailed just beyond the reach of Sam Fuld. The Rangers added a second run in the third inning when Rougned Odor singled, stole second, advanced on an infield out and scored on a dribbler back to the mound by Elvis Andrus. The Rangers added three insurance runs in the eighth, one on a squeeze bunt by rookie Luis Sardinas. They chased Hughes, who went into the game with a 1.52 ERA in five previous career appearances at Globe Life Park. Darvishs strong outing followed a quality start by Nick Tepesch on Friday night to give Texas consecutive quality starts for the first time since June 14-15. The Twins put runners at second and third in the second inning on singles by Oswaldo Arcia and Parmelee. No. 9 batter Pedro Florimon, hitless in his previous 18 at-bats, flied out to centre with two away to end what proved to be Minnesotas only threat of the game. Notes: Rangers OF Alex Rios, hitless in his last 15 at-bats, was given a day off after playing all 126 games since being acquired last Aug. 9 from the Chicago White Sox ... Texas LHP Derek Holland threw a 67-pitch simulated game on Saturday, but the club isnt ready to start him on a rehab assignment. ...Minnesotas Sunday starter, Kyle Gibson, shut out Texas over six innings on May 28. . However, after review it became clear Kadri kicked the puck in. . John Albert Elway, 24, was booked into jail early Saturday morning after an incident near a college campus in downtown Denver, according to jail records.
http://www.cheappanthersjerseyssale.com ... sey-sale... maybe even more than that. Maybe all season I have to take a few blows. .com) - Ben Lovejoy tallied a goal and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks cruised into the All-Star break with a 6-3 victory against the Calgary Flames. . And theyre pointing to the NHLs biggest market: Toronto. With Gretzky paid out for what is believed to be $7 to 8 million, Gretzky may be eager to get back into the NHL and TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that the Maple Leafs are very much interested in The Great Ones services.Renault have unveiled their definitive colour scheme for the 2016 season bringing yellow back to the grid. The returning French constructor ran in an interim black and yellow livery during winter testing but had promised a new look in time for this weekends season-opening race in Australia. The team revealed their final colours in Melbourne on Wednesday with the RS16 to now run in traditional Renault yellow a black trim. After completing their takeover of the Lotus team in December, Renault have played down expectations for their first season back as a constructor with work on the 2016 car having started late. The new RS16 ran into some early reliability problems in winter testing but racked up the mileage thereafter with new signing Kevin Magnussen describing it as a driver-friendly car. Chief technical officer Bob Bell hopes they can begin the season in the points this weekend.We were pleasantly surprised, Bell said about Renaults pre-season. Although we are down on aero and power, the car is nicely balanced, consistent and good to develop. British driver Jolyon Palmer says hes hopeful Renault will finish in the points at this weekends Australian Grand Prix We didnt need to chase a lot of time finding the balance so theres a lot confidence we can get up to speed relatively quickly.dddddddddddd If we can sneak into the top 10 in Melbourne, well be pleased with that. The first race of the 2016 F1 season, the Australian GP, is exclusively live on Sky Sports F1. The race in Melbourne starts at 5am on Sunday March 20. Or watch for £6.99 without a contract on NOW TV. Also See: The Australian GP preview Get Sky F1: Every race live ' ' '
