ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yu Darvish came oh, so close again. Jim Otto Raiders Jersey . The Japanese ace fell one out shy of a no-hitter for the second time Friday night, giving up a ninth-inning single to David Ortiz in the Texas Rangers 8-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox. "This is the second time I experienced this, but if I keep pitching like this, someday Ill get it," Darvish said through his translator. "Someday, Ill just keep doing what Im doing and Ill probably have another record of almost a no-hitter." Rookie second baseman Rougned Odour, positioned in shallow right field, made a diving attempt at Ortizs hit but the ball was out of his reach. If the Rangers had not shifted their infield toward the right side of the diamond -- a standard practice against the pull-happy Ortiz -- it probably would have been a routine grounder to second. Darvish lost a perfect-game bid with two outs in the ninth inning last season against Houston. This time, he bent his knees and put his glove on his hips after the base hit. Texas manager Ron Washington then made a slow walk to the mound, with the 45,392 in attendance cheering and chanting "Yuuuuuu!" Darvish (3-1) struck out 12 and walked two while throwing 126 pitches. "He was on his game early," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. " That combination of being powerful and the secondary pitches and the assortment of them ends up being a night like tonight." The 20-year-old Odour, playing his second major league game, and Ortiz were also involved in the play that ended Darvishs try for a perfect game. Darvish struck out eight of the first 11 batters he faced and retired 20 in a row until Ortiz hit a high popup to right field with two outs in the seventh. Odor was also shifted into shallow right then and drifted back for the ball while right fielder Alex Rios came in before suddenly stopping. Odor lunged with his glove extended above his head but the ball dropped between them. "As soon as he hit it, I thought it was going to be a hit," Darvish said. "Obviously I was a little bit disappointed, but I was already ready to give up a hit, so it didnt really matter." An error was charged to Rios after official scorer Steve Weller looked at replays and conferred with several others because of the significance of the play. "I should have taken control of that ball," Rios said. "We were camped under the ball, so it can be called an error." Weller, in his 20th season as a scorer, told a pool reporter after the game that it was a judgment call and "I felt like the second baseman or right fielder under normal effort couldve clearly caught the ball." Asked if he had spoken to Darvish, Rios said, "I just told him that I should have caught it. Thats the only thing I said." Darvish crouched down when the ball hit the ground. Former Rangers catcher Mike Napoli then drew a walk before Grady Sizemores inning-ending flyout. Once Ortiz got his hit in the ninth, he thought he should have been credited with a hit in the seventh as well. "Guys throwing a no-hitter. We all understand that. But when it comes down to the rules in the game, thats a hit," Ortiz said. "Thats the rule that we all know, and thats the rule that the game (has had) for more than 100 years. The ball in the outfield drops in between infield and outfield, nobody touched it. ... So I guess its going to be two (hits) now." Ortiz said he would have been OK with the error "if the guys throwing a no-hitter." Darvish walked another batter in the eighth but went into the ninth looking for the first no-hitter in the majors this season. Dustin Pedroia grounded out and Shane Victorino struck out before Ortiz stepped to the plate. "He had great stuff. He was locating everything," Pedroia said. "When a guy like that with that kind of stuff is on his game, it makes it a tough night." Darvish was within one out of a perfect game during his first start of 2013 in Houston when Marwin Gonzalez singled through the pitchers legs. Darvish then lost a no-hit bid with one out in the eighth against the Astros last August. Elvis Andrus had four hits and scored three times for the Rangers. Andrus was back in his normal No. 2 spot in the batting order for the first time in six games. Washington had moved his shortstop down in the lineup after a 2-for-34 slide that dropped him to a season-low .217, but moved him back to split up the five left-handers in his lineup against Clay Buchholz (2-3). Buchholz allowed six runs and 10 hits over 4 1-3 innings. He struck out three and walked two while throwing 96 pitches. It was Darvishs 21st career game with at least 10 strikeouts, the most in the majors since his debut in 2012. Detroits Max Scherzer is next on the list with 14 in that span. Darvish was winless in his previous nine home starts, despite a 2.83 ERA in those games. He had not won at home since last Aug. 1 against Arizona. Texas went ahead to stay when Andrus had a one-out single in the first and scored on a double by Adrian Beltre. NOTES: The last no-hitter for the Rangers was Kenny Rogers perfect game against the California Angels on July 28, 1994. ... Boston last went without a hit on April 22, 1993, against Seattles Chris Bosio. ... Andrus had the first four-hit game by a Texas player this season. ... Odour, the youngest player to appear in a major league game this season, got his first hit with a single in the fourth. Tim Brown Jersey . One would think that winning one of the NHLs signature events – with 50,000 fans watching in the stadium and a larger-than-normal television audience – could propel this team onto a much-needed winning streak. Jim Plunkett Raiders Jersey . Marian Gaborik had two goals and an assist and Martin Jones made just 17 saves to record his fourth shutout of the season as the Kings snapped a three-game losing skid with a 3-0 victory over the lowly Oilers on Thursday.COPENHAGEN - Brent Sutter was speaking to Paul Holmgren over the summer when the topic of Scott Laughton came up and the Philadelphia Flyers general manager noted that the prospect reminded him a bit of Mike Richards. After Thursday, the two players have one more thing in common: both have served as captain of Canadas national junior team. Richards led Canada to gold in the 2005 event when Sutter was also coach. "He wasnt necessarily the best player on the team, but he was the glue of the team," Sutter recalled. Laughton, like Richards a first-round pick of the Flyers, was named captain of this years world junior squad on Friday. Sutter, now back for a third tour of duty behind the bench at the world juniors, informed Laughton of his decision before practice and then announced it to the team at the end of the workout. "Leadership with him comes naturally," said Sutter. "Hes a well-respected player inside our dressing room. He has a lot of charisma to him. He demands respect. He comes to play every night and he plays the right way." Holmgrens Richards comparison stuck with Sutter and has become clearer the more hes been around Laughton. And thats music to the 19-year-olds ears. "Ive looked up to Mike Richards for a while now," said Laughton, who plays for the Oshawa Generals in the Ontario Hockey League. "Hes with the same agent as me and ever since my junior draft year Ive been looking up to him and watching him and hes my favourite player so its a pretty big honour to be [compared] to him." Often times Canadas captain will be a player with previous world junior experience, but there are just three returnees this time around. Jonathan Drouin, an 18-year-old, is the only forward back and was named an alternate captain along witth Minnesota Wild defenceman Mathew Dumba. Ronnie Lott Raiders Jersey. The other two returning players are defenceman Griffin Reinhart, who will miss the first three games due to a suspension, and goalie Jake Paterson, who is competing with Zach Fucale for the starting job. With that in mind, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Laughton had a pretty good idea of how hed fit in this year. "Im an older guy with pro experience so I knew I was going to be a leader on this team whether I did get a letter or not," he said. "Im a pretty vocal guy so Im going to continue to do that and also keep the room light and joke around a bit and things like that. Whenever a guy needs me to be there Im going to stick up for my teammates. Thats the biggest thing." Its clear why Laughton was an easy choice for Sutter. The Oakville, Ont. native can do it all. He filled a shutdown role while helping Canada win titles at the under-17 and under-18 levels, but is also dangerous in the offensive end. When he left for Canadas camp a week ago, he was seventh in OHL scoring with 24 goals and 50 points in 29 games. And, of course, hes also got some professional experience. Laughton got a taste of the NHL last season playing five games for the Flyers and then six more for the teams American Hockey League affiliate. "That really benefitted me and was huge for me just in terms of my confidence," he said. Laughton stuck with the Flyers out of training camp this fall, but was sent down early in the campaign without playing a game. "Its definitely disappointing and it always weighs in the back of your mind," Laughton admitted. "Coming back to junior, I tried to use it as motivation and tried to play my heart out and be a leader back in Oshawa and I think Ive done that." cheap nfl jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
