Yu Darvish shows sizzling stuff in return to action

— -- ARLINGTON, Texas -- If you didn't know Yu Darvish hadn't pitched in 659 days, nothing about his performance Saturday would have indicated that he was making his first start since he had Tommy John surgery 14 months ago.

Darvish didn't look any different than he did in any of his first three seasons with the Texas Rangers, when he was among the best pitchers in baseball and made three All-Star teams. The 29-year-old Darvish dominated the Pittsburgh Pirates as he allowed one run on three hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

"It was about as electric stuff as I've seen since I've been in the big leagues," catcher Bobby Wilson said. "It was so impressive the way he came out and pumped his heater in there -- 97 and 98 with sink -- and he threw all of his pitches.

"He had a good curveball, a good slider and a good cutter, and he struck [John] Jaso out with a changeup on the last pitch he threw. When he's on the mound, the electricity in the ballpark is heightened so much. It excited everybody."

Darvish allowed a hit to Jaso, the first batter he faced, then he went to work on Pittsburgh's lineup in the 87 degree heat. He didn't allow another hit until the fifth inning.

When he struck  Andrew McCutchen out on a slider, the sellout crowd of 46,950 responded with chants of "Yuuuuu!" They did the same when he slowly walked off the field at the end of the first inning.