Ranger’s starter Yu Darvish produced a stellar pitching performance last night, striking out a career high 15 batters in the 2 – 1 victory over Houston. In what was close to being a shut out performance from the righty his command was impeccable, but it was the nasty breaking ball which really stood out. He’s now 4 – 1 with a 1.31 ERA since coming off the DL, and Texas have won nine of their last ten as they take a grip on the AL West title. Indeed, it’s easy to assume that they can virtually assure a play off berth given that their remaining 16 fixtures for August are all against sub .500 teams.

2 – Milwaukee
6 – Seattle
3 – Houston
3 – White Sox
2 – Minnesota

The only blemish in tonight’s performance was catcher AJ Pierzynski’s ejection for using a “bad word” to the home plate umpire.