ARLINGTON, Texas -- After declaring in spring training he was the "happiest" he had been in seven years, Chicago Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish lasted a career-worst 2 innings in his first start of the season -- against the team he spent most of those seven years with, the Texas Rangers.
"First couple batters, I felt good. But after that, I lost my command, especially the fastball," Darvish said after the Cubs' 8-6 loss.
Darvish, 32, was pitching in a big league game for the first time since last May, when he went down with an elbow injury. He walked a career-high seven hitters on Saturday while throwing 75 pitches, before Cubs manager Joe Maddon pulled him, one batter after he gave up a two-run home run to Asdrubal Cabrera.
"I think first game back after he got traded, he could be emotional," Chicago catcher Willson Contreras said. "I could see his body language, he was emotional."
The first 10 Rangers to face their former teammate didn't put the ball in play, as six walked and four struck out. According to Elias Sports Bureau research, that's the most hitters to not put the ball in play to start a game in franchise history.
"That was weird," Darvish said.
The righty was staked to a 3-0 lead before using 35 pitches to get through the bottom of the first inning. His seven walks were part of a 12-walk night for Cubs pitchers, the most issued in a game by them since 2002.
"I can't tell why right now," Darvish said in regard to losing his command, while shouldering the blame. "It was all about me."
After signing a six-year, $126 million deal with the Cubs before 2018, then having a shortened season to forget, Darvish spent the winter and spring training remaking himself, giving interviews in English for the first time and openly joking with teammates and reporters. But the ease and laid-back nature of spring training gave way to a rough first outing, one of his worst ever.
"Stuff was really good," Maddon said. "It's just about where it was going."
Despite Darvish's struggles, the Cubs led 6-5 going into the bottom of the eighth inning, when another pitcher remaking himself, Carl Edwards Jr.,took over. Edwards subsequently gave up a single and a walk, before Joey Gallo gave the Rangers their first lead of the game with a long, three-run home run to center. It proved to be the game winner.
"It was not the Carl we're used to seeing," Maddon said. "It was a great spot for him right there coming off a good camp."
Edwards added a Kenley Jansen-like hesitation move to his delivery this past offseason, but it failed him in Game 1, as his velocity and "action" on his pitches wasn't there.
Afterward, he tried to spin a negative moment into something he can use going forward.
"I start off every year pretty good," Edwards said. "I had a good spring. I didn't face any adversity. Now, it happens in the first game of the year. I think it will be a good test for me going back out there."
It was the first appearance of the year for two pitchers who are as important as any on the Cubs. Neither one carried over a positive spring to his 2019 debut.
"I'll definitely talk to both," Maddon said. "You have to stay with them and really make sure they stay with you. It was a tough night overall."