ME LOOKIN' AT YU?:

Ace Darvish holds Orix at arm's length (JASON COSKREY, 1-0/12/08, Japan Times)

Spot Yu Darvish a run and more times than not he's going to win. Give him a couple more and it's pretty much academic.

Darvish kept the powerful Orix Buffaloes at bay and the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters strung together a couple of timely hits to win Game 1 of the first stage of the Pacific League Climax Series 4-1 on Saturday afternoon at Kyocera Dome.

"With Darvish pitching, there is no way we were going to lose if we scored four runs," Fighters manager Masataka Nashida said. [...]

Darvish struck out 14 and allowed an unearned run on nine hits in a complete-game effort. With the exception of Hiroyuki Oze, Darvish struck out every Orix batter, including two pinch hitters, at least once.

Dating back to last season's Japan Series, the Fighters ace has struck out at least 11 in each of his last three postseason starts.

Darvish passed former Seibu Lions hurler Daisuke Matsuzaka with his fourth career Climax Series victory and also passed Matsuzaka on the career Climax Series strikeout list.