New York Yankees Suffer Tough Loss with Solid Pitching from Hiroki Kuroda

The New York Yankees were dealt a tough loss yesterday being shut out by the Texas Rangers 2-0. Hiroki Kuroda may have recorded a loss, but he pitched well and had a solid outing on the mound.

Kuroda gave up a home run and an RBI single, but limited the Rangers to those two runs in his 6.2 innings on the mound.

His 2012 record now stands at 1-3 with 17 strikeouts and a 4.38 ERA in 24.2 innings pitched.

Kuroda's strong performance proved to be not enough to match Yu Darvish. The Yankees failed to provide any run support, and blew a bases-loaded, no out opportunity in the third inning.

Darvish pitched an impressive game going 8.1 innings with 10 strikeouts, two walks and seven hits.

The Yankees were impressed with Darvish, who had never faced him before. Nick Swisher said, "We'll be ready for him next time."

Derek Jeter was also quite impressed with Darvish's outing and said:

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"We didn't really know what to expect. It's a challenge any time you face someone the first time. But he had a fastball, two-seamer, cutter, four-seamer, curveball, slider, change, split. He's got pretty much everything, and he pitched ahead in the count most of the game."

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Although Kuroda appeared to be outmatched by Darvish, he was able to hold his own with a strong pitching performance. Darvish may have had the spotlight throughout the game, but Kuroda certainly was not to blame for the failure.

The Yankees failed Kuroda by not giving him the run support that he needed. Had they taken advantage of an opportunity such as the one in the third inning, Kuroda's performance would have had a very different outcome.

Darvish was able to keep the Yankees guessing at the plate with his arsenal of pitches. The next time that the Yankees and the Rangers meet with Darvish on the mound, the Yankees will be better prepared.