When the Los Angeles Angels get their first of what could be five or six shots at Yu Darvish on "Sunday Night Baseball," the task looks beyond intimidating.
Darvish, entering his second season in the United States, is actually throwing harder than he did last season, adding some real potency to an extremely wide repertoire of pitches. That's not to mention that he just came within one out of a perfect game in his season debut against the Houston Astros or that he is coming off his first start without any walks in his major league career.
Yet there is a way, if not to "solve" Darvish, then at least to increase your chances greatly in avoiding looking as silly as the Astros did. However strange it seems after coming one out short of getting perfect-gamed for the second time in 10 months, the Astros, amid all their hacking and flailing, may have actually uncovered the key to beating Darvish.