ALMOST DOESN’T COUNT

Rangers’ Yu Darvish’s Near-Perfect Game

Allowed a hit with two outs in the ninth.

The Texas Rangers’ Yu Darvish came painfully close to a perfect game Tuesday night—making it to two outs in the final inning before letting a hit go by. A rare occurrence in baseball, a perfect game requires a pitcher to retire 27 hitters in nine innings—without a single hit, walk, or even an error by other players. In spite of Darvish's miss, the Rangers beat the Houston Astros 7–0, but Martin Gonzalez’s two-out single at the bottom of the ninth was particularly heartbreaking when it went through the pitcher’s legs. An optimistic Darvish said the first thing he thought was “a win’s a win.” It’s not like he walked away empty-handed, either: his 14 strikeouts tied a Minute Maid Park record.