Soto Catching Darvish With Pierzynski At DH
ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) -- For the first time since July 27, AJ Pierznyski will not be behind the plate when Yu Darvish takes the mound against the Pirates on Monday.
Instead, Manager Ron Washington has chosen Geovany Soto to start at catcher.
"It came out of my pen. That was my reasoning," said Washington before the game when explaining the decision.
Though the pen did the writing, there may be more to the decision to have Soto catch for a second straight game and have Pierzynski at the DH position.
In Darvish' last start on Wednesday in Oakland, he and Pierzynski got into a verbal altercation on the mound. The right-hander last just five innings -- his shortest outing of the season -- surrendering five runs while taking the loss.
On the whole, Darvish has pitched well with Pierzynski behind the plate this season, going 6-5 with a 2.80 ERA. That includes two starts in which Darvish took no-hitters into the seventh inning.
"No matter which I catch, I feel comfortable with it," said Washington. "Today I just decided to go with Soto. There's nothing underlining other than that behind it."
In two years with Soto behind the mound, Darvish is 11-3 with a 2.74 ERA.
So the argument last week had nothing to do with starting Soto on Monday -- right Washington?
"I didn't think of that, but thank you for putting that in my mind."
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