Eduardo Escobar launches bat trying to hit Yu Darvish pitch (Video)
By Mike Marteny
If the bat toss becomes an Olympic Sport, here is the guy I want throwing it for my team.
How hard is it to hit a pitch thrown by Yu Darvish? Ask Minnesota Twins shortstop Eduardo Escobar. He tried – and failed miserably- in this task in the top of the fifth inning of the Twins game against the Texas Rangers.
Escobar took a hack at a Darvish offering and his trusty bat slipped right out of his hand……and ended up more than 100 feet away down the right field line. Luckily it did not go into the stands!
The rest of the Twins lineup didn’t fare much better against Darvish today. He struck out ten in eight shutout innings while allowing just four hits on the day. The Rangers went on to win the game 5-0.
The win moves Darvish to 8-4 on the season to go with an impressive 2.42 ERA. He now has 128 strikeouts in just 104.1 innings pitched.
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The Rangers first got on the board in the second inning when Chris Gimenez drove in Adrian Beltre with an RBI single.
Rougned Odor scored on an Elvis Andrus groundout to make it 2-0 in the third innings.
The Rangers put the game away in the eighth inning after a two run double by Leonys Martin made it 5-0.
Darvish will look to continue his success in his next start, which is scheduled to come on Thursday at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
The loss is the fifth in a row for the Twins, putting them nine games out of first in the AL Central.
The Rangers have now won two straight after their eight game losing streak, but they are still 13 games out in the AL West.