Yu Darvish Dazzles in Dodgers Debut with 10 Ks Through 7 Innings vs. Mets

If Yu Darvish's Dodgers debut is any indication of future performance, they're not going to be missing any of the prospects they sent to Texas any time soon.

Darvish threw seven near-flawless innings Friday against the New York Mets, giving up just three hits and striking out 10. Josh Fields relieved Darvish in the eighth inning, and Luis Avilan closed it out in the ninth to give the Dodgers a 6-0 victory.

Darvish, acquired in a deadline-day deal with the Rangers, showed no signs of the struggles that afflicted him in July. After allowing runners on first and second with one out in the first, Darvish retired the next five batters he faced to get into a rhythm that would propel him through the start.

"I wasn't worried about being with the Dodgers in my first outing," Darvish said after the game, per David Schoenfield of ESPN.com. "I gave up 10 runs in my last game, so there was a little nervousness just coming back from that."

The righty did not allow a runner to get past second base for his final six innings and finished off the performance by striking out the side in the seventh. 

"I got a big hug from Yu after his outing," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "He's already blending in with the other players, and you can just see the joy."

The Dodgers are counting on Darvish to continue helping anchor what should be the best rotation in baseball come October. Clayton Kershaw's health is paramount, but adding Darvish to a rotation that already includes Rich Hill and Alex Wood is borderline unfair.

Assuming he's gotten all the pitch-tipping kinks worked out of his system, Darvish could be the piece that shifts the World Series picture. For one night, he looked the part.