Break It Down: Yu Darvish's 10K Performance Against NYY

Later tonight, Yu Darvish will take the hill against the Toronto Blue Jays, looking for his fourth win in his first five Major League starts. The Japanese righty has handled the pressure well thus far, and it was no more evident than during his performance last Tuesday against the New York Yankees.

All 38 of the pitches in his diverse repertoire were dialed in, leading to 10 strikeouts, a bevy of poorly calculated racial puns by the Texas faithful and one extremely satisfying Alex Rodriguez roll over into an inning-ending, bases loaded double play.

Click through to check out the full PHS analysis.

1st Inning

• (0:04) Darvish snaps off a 12-6 curveball and catches Alex Rodriguez way out on his front foot. Yu's consistent arm action keeps A-Rod guessing. He guesses wrong

2nd Inning

• (0:09) Darvish gets Nick Swisher swinging through a nasty, 87 mph pitch with sink and arm-side run that we're still trying to figure out. This is a running theme throughout the night. 
• (0:12) Raul Ibanez puts a half effort swing on a nicely placed breaking ball outside at the knees. Darvish is keeping the Yankees pull-heavy lefties off balance.

3rd Inning

• (0:15) The pressure is on as Darvish faces Curtis Granderson with no outs and the bases loaded. With a 2-2 count, Granderson is still looking for something to lift, but Darvish doesn't give in, getting the punch out with a curve on the outside paint. 
• (0:20) Here's where it gets really good: Facing A-Rod for the second time, Darvish puts a 94 mph fastball on Alex's hands (0-1 count), getting the Yankee slugger to roll over into a 5-3 double play. Adrian Beltre is money. The Arlington crowd screams in approval. Darvish takes a Vincent K. McMahon-esque diddy bop stride back to the dugout.

4th Inning

• (0:30) Yu gets Mark Teixeira to swing over the top of a splitter for his 5th strikeout of the night. The vaunted Yankees lefties still look uncomfortable, as Teixeira's swing through produces an awkward two step before leaving the box.
• (0:37) Darvish produces a three pitch strikeout of Nick Swisher, getting Swish to swing through a big curveball that lands low and out of the zone. 

7th Inning

• (0:42) In an 0-2 count, Darvish gets Raul Ibanez again with perhaps his nastiest pitch of the night - a  94-mph pitch that starts on the outside corner and tails a foot off the plate. Is it a 2-seam? The mythical Shuuto? Either way, Ibanez has no chance. The setup here is unfair: the last two pitches have a 14.7 mph difference in velocity, an 18.94-inch difference in horizontal movement, and an 11.24-inch difference in vertical movement. Ibanez looks back to the mound as if to say, "really," and hastily makes his way back to the visiting dugout. 
• (0:47) Eric Chavez swings through what looks like a mistake cutter over the plate. Darvish's velocity is enough to make up for the mistake, producing the 9th strikeout of the night. 
• (0:51) Darvish gets the hot hitting Derek Jeter, number 2, Derek Jeter to swing through a filthy 91-mph slider off the outside corner. With the strikeout of one of the most famous American baseball players of all time, his 9th of the night, this is turning into, arguably, a career-defining performance for Darvish. 

8th Inning

• (0:54) Darvish drops the Uncle Charlie on the Grandyman again, getting a swing through on another outside curveball for his 10th and final strikeout of the night. 
• (0:59) A sinking change gets Robinson Cano to roll over down the first baseline. Darvish bounds off of the mound and completes the 1-3 putout to end the inning. Never accused of originality, the 48,000 in attendance let out a low-pitched "YUUUUUUUuuuuuu," as the rest of America watching on TV is slightly annoyed (yet still very excited about the pitching performance).

9th Inning

• With one out in the 9th, Ron Washington makes the long walk to relieve Darvish from his start. The Rangers fans rise for a standing ovation. Darvish gives half of a hat tip. 

The damage:

Texas
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	Season ERA
Y. Darvish (W, 3-0)	8.1	7	0	0	2	10	0	1.58	2.42

Darvish's 10 strikeouts, 9 via swing and miss, are largely the result of keeping the Yankees off balance with his deep arsenal - six distinct pitches (at least), ranging from 96.8 mph to 68.8 mph. Unlike his previous three starts, Darvish had much better command, throwing 82 of his 119 pitches for strikes. He stayed ahead of hitters with the fastball early, setting up his "off-speed" stuff.