rvish showed no rust after miss

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Yu Darvish showed no rust after missing three weeks. Darvish allowed seven hits over seven innings in his season debut, Elvis Andrus hit a two-run homer, and the Texas Rangers avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 3-0 on Sunday. "He was in control of the game," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He was using his pitches. He was throwing strikes. And thats what he does." Darvish (1-0) struck out six and walked one. Sidelined by neck stiffness, it was his first outing since a spring training game on March 16. "I didnt feel anything unusual," Darvish said through an interpreter. Darvish got his 500th career strikeout, coming in 401 2-3 innings, by fanning David DeJesus and Wil Myers in the first. According to the Rangers, it is the fewest innings for a starter to reach 500 strikeouts in major league history. Andrus put the Rangers up 2-0 with his homer off Joel Peralta (0-1) in the eighth. Donnie Murphy made it 3-0 on an RBI infield during the ninth. "Hes going to get five a year, and today was one of them," Washington said of Andrus homer. "It was huge. We needed it. Today, he drove the bus." Neal Cotts replaced Alexi Ogando for the Rangers with two on and two outs in the eighth, and struck out Matt Joyce on a 3-2 pitch. Joakim Soria pitched the ninth for his first save. Alex Cobb scattered three hits, walked one and struck out six in seven shutout innings for the Rays. "Unfortunately for us, he was really on," Cobb said of Darvish. Only one runner reached second against Cobb. "He didnt give up any pitches," Andrus said. "I thought he was painting the whole game. Im really glad that we had Yu out there. He was doing the same thing for us." Tampa Bay had runners on second and third with one out in the fifth, but failed to score when Myers hit an infield pop fly and Ben Zobrist flew out. Darvish got three consecutive outs after allowing Evan Longorias double to lead off the sixth. He also worked out of a jam during the seventh after Ryan Hanigan hit a leadoff double. "We just did not get the knocks when we needed it," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. The Rays were hitless in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position against Darvish, and 0 for 11 overall. "As usual, youve got a team over there that fights forever," Washington said. "They put themselves in some good positions to score some runs, but Yu made the pitches when he had to." Notes: Darvish was activated from the 15-day disabled list and RHP Nick Martinez was optioned to Double-A Frisco. ... Rangers RHP Colby Lewis (hip surgery) gave up four runs and four hits over five innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Round Rock. ... Texas LHP Joe Saunders (bruised left ankle) is not expected to be ready for his regular bullpen session Monday and could miss his next start. ... Texas RHP Tanner Scheppers (0-0) will face Boston RHP John Lackey (1-0) Monday night in the opener of a three-games series at Fenway Park. ... Tampa Bay LHP Matt Moore (0-1) and Royals LHP Jason Vargas (0-0) are the scheduled starters for Monday nights game in Kansas City. Cheap UCLA Jerseys Free Shipping . These days, just about anyone can get a taste of the friendship that has blossomed between All-Star Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City Thunder teammate James Harden, most famous in the past two weeks or so for the elbow to the head he took from the Los Angeles Lakers Metta World Peace. UCLA Jerseys From China . Cain departed in the fourth inning of a 10-5 loss to the Pirates on Thursday. X-rays on Cains bruised forearm were negative. He was hit when Sanchez led off the fourth with a groundout. http://www.cheapuclajerseys.com/?tag=uc ... ege-jersey. The deal will pay Hainsey $3 million for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons and $2.5 million in 2016-17. Troy Aikman College Jersey .com) - Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll knows about life in the NFL from other stints around the league. Cheap UCLA Jerseys Authentic . Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse will reunite at this weekends season-opening World Cup at Canada Olympic Park as they begin their buildup to the Winter Games in Sochi.MILWAUKEE -- Jolted by a two-game losing streak, the Oklahoma City Thunder turned to Serge Ibaka and their defence to stop the slide. Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. "Serges performance was outstanding, the way he was blocking and altering shots and his rebounds," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "His 15 and 20 was one of his best games. Hes standing out as a guy that can get 10 rebounds a night and hes been pretty consistent. Thats what makes you a very good pro, that consistency." Russell Westbrook scored 26 points and Kevin Durant added 24 for the Thunder, who were coming off back-to-back road losses to the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors. O.J. Mayo scored 22 points for the Bucks, losers of five straight who continue to play short-handed because of injuries. Milwaukee played good enough defence to keep it close, but had too many offensive lulls. The Bucks shot 22.2 per cent in the fourth quarter. "We didnt make shots, but defensively, we were really good," Durant said. "They hit some 3s, which they do, but we contested them all night. Overall, defensively we played well." Bucks coach Larry Drew says his team gets into trouble when it stops moving the ball on offence -- lapses that allowed the Thunders defence to pounce. "When you play against a team like OKC, (when) you keep the ball on one side of the floor, they load up that side of the floor," Drew said. "You become very easy to guard, because they do such a good job in their rotations. Its very obvious. When we hit those bad spells, that basketball stops moving and it doesnt jump around." At least some of that credit goes to Ibaka. "Hes a physical player," Bucks forward Ekpe Udoh said. "Hes athletic, gets off his feet. . Hes talented. Hit a couple of shots on me." The Thunder also welcomed back centre Kendrick Perkins, whho was away from the team for two games following his grandfathers death.dddddddddddd Before the game, Brooks emphasized Perkins critical role on defence -- particularly on pick-and-rolls. Oklahoma City took control with an 11-4 run to end the third quarter -- playing with reserves for much of that stretch -- and led 72-65 going into the fourth. Milwaukee was held scoreless for more than four minutes to start the fourth, but went on a quick 8-0 run, cutting the lead to 77-73 on a 3-pointer by Mayo with 6:10 remaining. But Westbrook hit a jumper, Ibaka swatted away a putback attempt by Udoh, and Ibaka hit a shot on the other end to give the Thunder an 81-73 lead with 4:28 left. The Bucks continue to struggle with injuries -- although they werent as short-handed on Saturday as they were in a loss at Orlando on Wednesday, when they had only eight healthy players. "We know Milwaukee is banged up right now, but we wanted to come in and play a solid defensive game and I thought we did," Brooks said. "We made them take tough shots. We did a good job defensively." Mayo sees better things coming for the Bucks when they get healthy. "Well be a lot better for sure," he said. "Heck yeah, man. As we get more and more healthy, more of the seasoned guys back in, itll strengthen our first unit." Milwaukee went into halftime with the score tied at 40, holding Oklahoma City to 31.3 per cent shooting from the floor in the first half. Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo provided several highlights in the first half for Milwaukee, including a flying dunk on an alley-oop from Luke Ridnour, two blocked shots and a handful of other deflections. NOTES: Drew said he does not have a timeline for the return of forward Ersan Ilyasova, who continues to sit out with a sore right ankle. ... Drew was optimistic that Caron Butler (left shoulder) and Brandon Knight (right hamstring) would return soon. ... Durant recovered from a cold start, shooting 3 for 10 from the floor in the first half. Authentic Nike Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Tennessee Titans Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Washington Redskins Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Arizona Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Denver Broncos Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Green Bay Packers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys Cheap