Yu Darvish hit a 410-foot homer to center field and the Rangers' bench really loved it
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All season long, we've seen pitchers club their way into the #PitchersWhoRake conversation. The thing is, most of them -- the Jake Arrietas, Adam Wainwrights, Noah Syndergaards and Madison Bumgarners of the world -- have been building up their reputations for a while.
Rangers right-hander Yu Darvish entered Wednesday's game, a 6-5 win by Texas over the Reds, with little offensive success so far in his MLB career. In 12 at-bats, Darvish had picked up two hits but no home runs. In fact, he did not hit any homers in Japan prior to making the switch to MLB, either.
That all changed when he emphatically entered himself in the mix with a booming solo shot to center field -- the first by a Rangers pitcher since Bobby Witt in 1997. It was a blast that even gloved wonderBilly Hamilton couldn't pull down:
Naturally, the Rangers' dugout erupted in celebration, with Rougned Odor earning a special mention for his enthusiasm:
As for Darvish's home run, he squared it up pretty well, considering the ball went 410 feet to dead center field, landing in the grass above the fence:
Talk about hitting your first career homer with authority.