Darvish outduels Drabek in pitching exhibition as Rangers beat Jays 4-1

Yu Darvish continued to live up to the hype as the Texas Rangers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 on Monday.

Darvish held the Blue Jays to four hits and one run while striking out nine in seven innings, improving to 4-0 in five starts.

Toronto designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion homered for the fourth consecutive game in the fourth inning and singled in the seventh against Darvish, who was signed by the Rangers from Japan in the off-season.

It was the first homer allowed this season by Darvish. The right-hander’s earned-run average is 2.18.

In his previous start on April 24, he held the New York Yankees to seven hits and no runs over 8 1/3 innings while striking out 10.

Mitch Moreland and Craig Gentry hit home runs for Texas against left-handed reliever Evan Crawford in the seventh.

Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his sixth save.

Kyle Drabek (2-2) gave the Blue Jays six strong innings, allowing five hits and two runs while striking out eight as his earned-run average increased slightly to 2.40.

Both pitchers had 1-2-3 first innings with two strikeouts but in the second the Rangers struck for a run on doubles by Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz.

Darvish walked Adam Lind to start the home second and hit Encarnacion with a pitch before retiring the next three batters, two on strikeouts.

Meanwhile the Rangers (17-6) added to their lead in the third. Ian Kinsler walked with one out and scored on a double by Elvis Andrus.

But with two out in the fourth, the Blue Jays (12-11) began to figure out Darvish. Encarnacion hit his eighth homer of the season.

It is the second time as a Blue Jay that Encarnacion has homered in four consecutive games. He also did it in the final four games of the 2010 season. Carlos Delgado and Joe Carter are the other two Blue Jays who have twice homered in four consecutive games.

Eric Thames followed with a double to right but Brett Lawrie’s grounder to short ended the inning.

Drabek stayed with Darvish. He struck out five batters in a row before walking Kinsler with two out in the fifth and then worked out of a first-and-third jam.

Crawford replaced Drabek to open the seventh and faced two batters, giving up Moreland’s third homer of the season and the first by Gentry to increase the Rangers’ lead to 4-1.

Mike Adams replaced Darvish, who walked two and made 97 pitches, in the eighth inning.