PHOENIX_Yu Darvish did not dominate the Arizona Diamondbacks the way he had the New York Mets in his Los Angeles Dodgers debut. Against Arizona on Thursday, he repeatedly struggled to locate his fastball within the strike zone, so staking 10 Diamondbacks to advantageous 2-and-0 counts.
What Darvish displayed at Chase Field was still dominance, just a different sort. When he needed to throw a strike to avoid a walk, he pumped a strike. When the situation dictated he elicit a swing-and-miss, he extorted a swing-and-miss. It's more torturous to be beaten by an opponent not at his best, more disheartening to be defeated by a competitor so clearly procrastinating. The Diamondbacks lost, 8-6, to a notably imperfect Darvish and the Dodgers.
Arizona trotted out a rookie left-hander named Anthony Banda, who was making his third career start. Banda, the organization's top prospect, turned 24 on Thursday. His celebration did not last long.
Corey Seager shot the game's first hit to right in the first inning. Justin Turner then smashed a ball right to Diamondbacks shortstop Ketel Marte, who could not glove it. Logan Forsythe battled back from a 1-and-2 count to draw a two-out walk. Again down 1-and-2, Enrique Hernandez dropped down his swing to greet a low curveball and drive it into left field. The bases-loaded double scored three runs.
At once it was clear that Darvish was not wielding his standard command. In the first inning, he threw three consecutive balls to begin at-bats against David Peralta, A.J. Pollock, and Paul Goldschmidt, and two to Jake Lamb. The third pitch to Lamb was, too, below the zone, but Lamb chased it. Arizona chased often. Peralta singled, but Pollock and Goldschmidt struck out swinging and Lamb popped out to center.
After Darvish set down the Diamondbacks in order in the second, Ketel Marte started the third with a walk. Banda bunted him over, and a wild pitch allowed Marte to take third. He scored when second baseman Logan Forsythe could not field a Peralta grounder in time. Darvish next missed with his first pitch but still struck out Pollock. He then left a cutter over the middle to Lamb, who ripped it to right field, where Forsythe was perfectly positioned in a shift.
After he struck out Goldschmidt to begin the fourth, Darvish missed up with a fastball to J.D. Martinez, who swung sufficiently to launch an opposite-field home run. Two more singles meant the go-ahead run stood on first with two outs when Arizona manager Torey Lovullo pinch-hit Brandon Drury for Banda.
For the first time, Darvish found pinpoint command. He spun two tempting sliders just below the zone, then hurled a fastball just above it. Drury swung at and missed all three pitches.
Chris Taylor ambushed Arizona reliever Jake Barrett in the fifth, walloping his first pitch four rows into the left-field stands. A walk, an error, and two infield singles supplied the Dodgers two more runs.
Darvish issued another walk to begin the bottom of the fifth, this time missing closer to the zone. As Pedro Baez warmed, Darvish struck out Pollock and Lamb swinging. He then benefited from a borderline call on a slider to strike out Goldschmidt. In one motion, Darvish pumped his fist up and lowered his glove, the incongruous celebration symbolizing his evening _ in exact but effective.
In his labor-intensive five innings, Darvish walked two and struck out 10. No man ever logged 10 strikeouts in each of his first two starts with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Darvish's 106 pitches were his most since June 7. He had not thrown that many pitches in five or fewer innings in more than three years.
In the Dodgers' half of the sixth, Turner doubled in two men, which Chris Iannetta matched in the bottom of the inning with a home run against Brock Stewart, one of five Dodgers relievers who appeared. Arizona managed two more runs against Brandon Morrow in the eighth, but Tony Cingrani helped him out of the jam, and Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth. Earlier, Tony Watson exited after a comebacker bounced off his left foot, though he might have been removed even if the ball had bounced elsewhere.
