M's no match for Yu

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Yu Darvish surpassed 200 strikeouts in his rookie season while getting his 15th victory and Josh Hamilton hit his 42nd home run for the AL West-leading Texas Rangers in a 9-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

Darvish (15-9) struck out nine in seven innings, often complementing his mid-90s fastball with a breaking pitch about 30 mph slower.

Ian Kinsler hit his sixth leadoff homer this year for Texas, a ball initially ruled a double before umpires looked at the replay and correctly reversed that call.

There was no question about Hamilton's long drive in the third off Hisashi Iwakuma (6-5), like Darvish a former Pacific League MVP in Japan and now a rookie in the major leagues.

With 205 strikeouts, Darvish is the first rookie over 200 since Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out 201 batters for Boston in 2007. He is the 16th rookie, sixth in the American League, with 200 strikeouts.