Yu Darvish deals in Cubs' 8-run win over Diamondbacks

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Yu Darvish has dealt with significant control problems through his first five starts, amassing a record of 1-3 with a 5.96 ERA. Against the Diamondbacks on Saturday night, Darvish looked a little bit more like the guy the Cubs envisioned when they signed him to a 6-year, $126 million contract back in February of 2018.

Darvish got himself into some tough spots but did a solid job of working his way out of jams.

On the night he threw 65 strikes and 45 balls. Darvish racked up 8 Ks, and again, looked solid despite throwing 110 total pitches over six innings.

Darvish seemed much more aggressive attacking the strike zone with an excellent offensive output giving him some leeway from the start. The most important thing for Darvish is that he did not cave after facing some adversity. David Peralta crushed a homer to center field in the first at-bat of the sixth inning.

After that Darvish walked Adam Jones, but he settled down and struck out Taijuan Walker before eventually escaping the inning with a heavy reliance on his cutter.

The Diamondbacks were on a five-game winning streak entering Saturday evening, and the loss not only breaks their streak, but it equates to the most runs they have given up in a game since a 18-5 drubbing at the hands of the Dodgers in late March.

The Cubs offensive explosion certainly did wonders for the confidence of Darvish, but we would be remiss not mention how big the night was for David Bote.

With the Cubs already up 2-0, the ever-clutch Bote hit a 3-run, 469-foot bomb to left field that gave Chicago a comfortable 5-0 lead. Two innings later, Bote followed up with another 400-plus foot home run to give the Cubs a seven-run lead. Chicago clubbed three homers on the evening, an impressive display of power as they righted the ship after an 8-3 loss to the D-Backs on Friday.

Darvish isn’t scheduled to be back on the mound until May 4, when the Cubs take on the (now) NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals. If Saturday night was an indication that Darvish is back on track, the Cubs are trending in the right direction as they close out the Arizona series on Sunday night.

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