Rangers' Darvish hoping for better success vs. A's

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yu Darvish's season-opening start wasn't bad.

He allowed four runs in 6 1/3 innings in an 8-5 loss to Cleveland.

If Darvish (0-0, 5.68 ERA) has a start like that when the Rangers host the A's on Saturday, it would be considered a great one. Darvish has struggled against Oakland throughout his career. He's 46-30 in his career with the Rangers but just 3-9 with a 4.64 ERA in 14 starts against the A's.

The nine losses are five more than Darvish has against any other team and his ERA is higher than it is against any other team he's made at least four starts against.

"I felt like they have really, good and smart hitters," Darvish said of the A's. "Sometimes they're not swinging on certain pitches. They stick with their plans, not lately, but a couple of years ago. I think it's just them being smart."

Darvish turned things around against the A's last season, going 2-1 with a 3.96 ERA so he's hoping he's got things figured out as he squares off against Kendall Graveman (1-0, 3.00 ERA), who has also struggled against the Rangers with a 1-2 career mark and a 6.35 ERA.

Darvish feels like he's figured out why he struggled with his command so much against Cleveland. He walked five batters, one shy of his career high.

Darvish said the issue in the opener wasn't mechanical, and he feels like he's figured it out. Darvish has also tinkered with the side of the rubber he's been throwing from. He threw from the first-base side in his first start but threw from the third-base side in his bullpen and will likely do that again Saturday.

He doesn't think where he throws from makes a difference. His focus is on improving.

"I'd like to throw more strikes and get more outs and go as deep as I can," Darvish said. "I'm just trying to throw in the strike zone right now. I feel like I need to be more precise and hit the spot. That's what I feel like I need to focus on."

One Oakland player Darvish has had success against is second baseman Jed Lowrie, who is off to a hot start for the A's. Lowrie is just a .176 hitter in 17 at-bats against Darvish.

But Lowrie is comfortable with Oakland this year and one of the reasons for that is he knows where he's hitting in the lineup every night. Friday night marked the third time this season Lowrie has hit in the No. 6 spot and he's off to a .294 start this year. He bounced around the order last year as he hit .263.

"We talked about it a little before the season started," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said of Lowrie, who is a career .310 hitter in April. "He likes that spot, too, because typically the guys in the middle of our order are going to be on base. And Jed can get a hit with guys on base. As long as he's OK with it, I like him there, too.

"Again, we tend to move things around depending on a hot hand, style of a pitcher, right-left. And I've always said that Jed has always been kind of the chameleon of our lineup and really embodies what our lineup is all about. He doesn't change what he's doing because of the spot he's in."