Yu Darvish to start Rangers' playoff opener

Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington told reporters, including T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, that right-hander Yu Darvish will start the team’s first playoff game.

Manager Ron Washington said Yu Darvish will start the first playoff game for the Rangers, whether it’s the wild card or the division series.

Sullivan notes that this is not much of a surprise considering Matt Harrison was used last night and Ryan Dempster is starting for the Rangers in their regular season finale with the Oakland Athletics tonight.

In his first year with the Rangers Darvish has maintained an ERA of 3.90 with 10.4 strikeouts per nine and 4.2 walks per nine over 29 appearances.

Texas entered the day tied with the A’s for the lead in the American League West. If they lose tonight they will still make the playoffs as a Wild Card team, but they’d then be forced to take on the Baltimore Orioles or New York Yankees, whichever team doesn’t win the American League East, Friday for a play-in game. If they win they’ll automatically be in the American League Division Series which begins this weekend.