Darvish wins all-Japan baseball pitching duel

Yu Darvish won the battle of Japanese hurlers, striking out 10 batters and allowing no runs as the Texas Rangers blanked Hiroki Kuroda's New York Yankees 2-0. Darvish improved to 3-0 on the season, pitching 8 1/3 innings and walking just two as he held the high-powered Yankees in check on Tuesday. Kuroda, who fell to 1-3, allowed five hits and two runs in 6 2/3 innings for the Yankees who won seven of their nine contests against the Rangers last year. The marquee matchup featured Kuroda, the fifth-winningest Japanese pitcher in Major League Baseball history, against Darvish who is perhaps the most-hyped pitching ace to come out of Japan. This was the seventh matchup between Japanese starters and the first since 2010 when former Los Angeles Dodger Kuroda tossed eight shutout innings to defeat Hisanori Takahashi's New York Mets 2-0. The other five matchups consisted of Kenshin Kawakami against Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2009, Matsuzaka against Tomo Ohka in 2007, Ohka against Mac Suzuki in 2002, Suzuki against Hideo Nomo in 2000 and Suzuki against Hideki Irabu in 1999.