Yu Darvish, in his second year in the Major Leagues following a stellar career in Japan, just missed pitching the second perfect game in Rangers history. Kenny Rogers achieved the feat on July 28, 1994, and Darvish nearly joined him in that elite club following a dominating performance Tuesday night against the rival Astros.

Darvish lost the perfecto with two out in the bottom of the 9th, to a .232 career hitter Marwin Gonzalez.

The Rangers beat the Astros 7-0, avenging an Opening Day loss Sunday. This would have been the earliest in the season a perfect game has ever been thrown, and Darvish threw 111 pitches in the effort. In his previous start in Spring Training, Darvish threw only 78.

Darvish would have tied a record, striking out 14 in a perfect game. Matt Cain and Sandy Koufax achieved that feat.

The Astros, loaded with inexperienced players and expected to finish last in their first year in the AL West, swung over and over at Darvish’s pitches, even late in the game when Darvish hung several breaking balls. Two Astros struck out in the 8th. Michael Kirkman saved the game for Darvish, striking out JD Martinez after allowing a single to put a runner on 3rd.

The Houston Astros would have become the second team in history to have two Perfect Games thrown against them in less than a calendar year. Tampa Bay was blanked by Mark Buehrle on July 23, 2009, and then by Dallas Braden of Oakland on May 9, 2010. The Astros did not manage a baserunner against Matt Cain of San Francisco last June 13.

table.tableizer-table {
border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 12px;
}
.tableizer-table td {
padding: 4px;
margin: 3px;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
}
.tableizer-table th {
background-color: #104E8B;
color: #FFF;
font-weight: bold;
}

Darvish & 23 perfectos Date Result
Yu Darvish* 4/2/2013 Texas 7, Houston 0 (lost on last out)
Felix Hernandez 8/15/2012 Seattle 1, Tampa Bay 0
Matt Cain 6/13/2012 San Francisco 10, Houston 0
Philip Humber 4/21/2012 Chicago 4, Seattle 0
Roy Halladay 5/29/2010 Philadelphia 1, Florida 0
Dallas Braden 5/9/2010 Oakland 4, Tampa Bay 0
Mark Buehrle 7/23/2009 Chicago 5, Tampa Bay 0
Randy Johnson 5/18/2004 Arizona 2, Atlanta 0
David Cone 7/18/1999 New York 6, Montreal 0
David Wells 5/17/1998 New York 4, Minnesota 0
Kenny Rogers 7/28/1994 Texas 4, California 0
Dennis Martinez 7/28/1991 Montreal 2, Los Angeles 0
Tom Browning 9/16/1988 Cincinnati 1, Los Angeles 0
Mike Witt 9/30/1984 California 1, Texas 0
Len Barker 5/15/1981 Cleveland 3, Toronto 0
Catfish Hunter 5/8/1968 Oakland 4, Minnesota 0
Sandy Koufax 9/9/1965 Los Angeles 1, Chicago 0
Jim Bunning 6/21/1964 Philadelphia 6, New York 0
Don Larsen 10/8/1956 New York 2, Brooklyn 0 (World Series)
Charlie Robertson 4/30/1922 Chicago 2, Detroit 0
Addie Joss 10/2/1908 Cleveland 1, Chicago 0
Cy Young 5/5/1904 Boston 3, Philadelphia 0
Monte Ward 6/17/1880 Providence 5, Buffalo 0
Lee Richmond 6/12/1880 Worcester 1, Cleveland 0