Missed Yu: Victorious return for Darvish

ARLINGTON — Rangers manager Jeff Banister answered multiple questions about Yu Darvish after a 5-2 Rangers victory over the Pirates on Saturday night. His final words went directly to the point.

“Look, he showed up [as] Yu Darvish tonight,” Banister said at the end of his postgame news conference.

That sums it up. After 14 months of recovering from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery, after all the checkups, workouts, bullpen sessions and rehab starts, that’s what happened on Saturday.

Darvish showed up before a sellout crowd and pitched like he had never been away. The only tangible difference was that the outing was a little shorter than normal, but other than that, Darvish looked to be at his best in holding the Pirates to one run in five innings. He walked one, struck out seven and left after 81 pitches.

“Physically I could go more innings, but mentally I was done,” Darvish said.

Darvish said he wasn’t nervous being on a Major League mound for the first time since Aug. 9, 2014. He said his first rehab assignment was a much bigger deal. He also didn’t express any extra elation about getting his first win since July 28, 2014.

“I’m not going to be satisfied with one outing,” Darvish said. “I’ve got the rest of the season to …

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