HOUSTON, April 3 (UPI) -- Yu Darvish came within one out of a perfect game but had to settle for 8 2/3 scoreless innings Tuesday in the Texas Rangers' 7-0 bashing of Houston.
After retiring 24 consecutive batters over the first eight frames, Darvish set down Jason Castro and Carlos Corporan on routine grounders to start the ninth inning.
But Marwin Gonzalez spoiled the perfect game bid when he scorched a grounder between Darvish's legs and up the middle for a clean base hit.
Darvish (1-0) ended with 14 strikeouts in his near-gem. He tossed 111 pitches, 78 of them for strikes.
Ian Kinsler led the Rangers' 12-hit offense with a two-run homer while Lance Berkman had two RBI as the Rangers picked up their first victory of the season following Monday's Opening Day setback.
Astros starter Lucas Harrell (0-1) pitched well loss, yielding just one run on six hits over six innings.
