ARLINGTON, Texas �� Yu Darvish was throwing heat and the bullpen kept its scoreless string rolling as the Rangers clinched home-field advantage throughout the postseason with a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 Friday night at Globe Life Park.
Darvish struck out a season-high 12 batters in six innings and improved to 7-5 with the win. Darvish allowed one run on three hits and a walk. The run scored after a lead-off walk and Evan Longoria's double in the sixth. Tony Barnette and Jake Diekman combined for a scoreless seventh, Matt Bush pitched a scoreless eighth and Sam Dyson earned his 38th save with a scoreless ninth.
Ian Desmond walked, stole second base and scored on Adrian Beltre's two-out single up the middle to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Carlos Beltran's solo homer in the third gave Texas a 2-0 lead. Rougned Odor's solo homer in the sixth made it 3-1.
Darvish recorded his 28th game with 10 or more strikeouts, second only to Nolan Ryan in Rangers history. Ryan had 34. Darvish's 28 games with 10 or more strikeouts in his first 100 starts is second only to Dwight Gooden, who had 31 in his first 100 starts.
