Sports

Yu Darvish won the battle of Japanese hurlers, striking out 10 batters and allowing no runs as the Texas Rangers blanked Hiroki Kuroda’s New York Yankees 2-0. Darvish improved to 3-0 on the season, pitching 8 1/3 innings and walking just two as he held the high-powered Yankees in check on Tuesday.

Kuroda, who fell to 1-3, allowed five hits and two runs in 6 2/3 innings for the Yankees who won seven of their nine contests against the Rangers last year.

This batting-third thing looks like it suits Ichiro Suzuki pretty well. Or maybe it’s the fact that he’s back playing in his home country of Japan for the first time since he began his legendary Major League career 11 years ago.

Or maybe it’s possible that after one statistically-substandard-to-Ichiro-standards season, he’s back to the brilliance that everyone expects when he steps into the batter’s box and in right field, even at age 38.

Some 30-40 Japanese media members were outside the Angels’ spring-training complex Tuesday afternoon, waiting to speak to Hideki Matsui while he addressed a handful of American reporters.

At the end of the 10-minute interview, in which the Angels’ new designated hitter showed a keen sense of humor that belies his usually stoic face, Matsui was asked what the Japanese media might ask him that American reporters didn’t.