"Just like you saw tonight, those guys are incredible. Just incredible," said Darvish, who admitted that he had too much energy early in the game. "Today was more of a mental battle for me. I had to stay in there and battle with what I had. I thought whatever I had, if I could string those zeroes together, the offense would come back."
Darvish was Japan's top pitcher before the Rangers committed more than $107 million to acquire him, including his guaranteed 6-year, $56 million contract.
In other games:
* At Baltimore, the New York Yankees finally won their first game of the season, using four hits by Derek Jeter and an effective pitching performance by Ivan Nova to defeat the Orioles, 6-2. Andruw Jones homered for the Yankees, who averted the fourth 0-4 start in franchise history - the first since 1973. New York began the season by losing three straight to Tampa Bay.
* At Toronto, Ryan Sweeney singled home the go-ahead run in the ninth inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied to beat the Blue Jays, 4-2, spoiling Toronto's home opener and avoiding the first back-to-back 0-4 starts in team history.
Dustin Pedroia homered and scored the tying run as the Red Sox handed new Blue Jays closer Sergio Santos his second blown save in three appearances.
Making his first home appearance since being acquired in a December trade with the White Sox, Santos was booed off the mound by the crowd of 48,473 when manager John Farrell came out to replace him with Luis Perez.
"I'd be booing, too," Santos said. "It wasn't pretty."
* At Minneapolis, C.J. Wilson (1-0) won his Angels debut with seven smooth innings, giving Los Angeles all the boost it needed to beat the Twins, 5-1, and spoil Minnesota's home opener.
* At Cleveland, Chris Sale won his first career start, limiting Cleveland to one run in 6 2/3 innings and leading the Chicago White Sox to a 4-2 win over the Indians. Sale pitched out of the bullpen the past two seasons.
In Indians news, the club has reached an agreement with catcher Carlos Santana on a multiyear contract, a source told the Associated Press.
Noteworthy *
Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte allowed one run and two hits over three innings for Class A Tampa in his second game action since ending a 1-year retirement. Pettitte struck out two in the Florida State League game against Clearwater. He threw 26 of 32 pitches for strikes.
