Yu Darvish gives up 4 runs and is pulled from Game 3 after less than 2 innings

The good news is...it could have been worse. Definitely could have been worse.

The bad news is, well, everything else about that inning.

In the second inning of Game 3, the Astros put up four runs and chased Yu Darvish from the game after only 1 ²⁄₃ innings. To put it bluntly, Darvish just didn’t have his stuff. His slider didn’t have the usual spin on it, and he was missing his spots.

So while it’s no surprise that the Astros were jumping all over his pitches, the reasoning doesn’t make it any better that the shortest start of Darvish’s career came in a crucial World Series game. And an away game, to boot.

Yuli Gurriel hit a solo home run to start things off and put the Astros on the board. Then Josh Reddick doubled, followed by an Evan Gattis walk and a Marwin Gonzalez single that brought Reddick all the way home. The only reason Gattis didn’t make it to third was because of his tiny lead off the base and where the throw was coming from.

Then Brian McCann singled to allow Gattis to score — his first hit of the series — and move Gonzalez to third. On a sac-fly to center Gonzalez scored too, mostly thanks to a shoddy throw to home by Chris Taylor. Jose Altuve added to things by getting McCann to third with a double.

If a few base running decisions were different and Maeda couldn’t get that final out as easily as he did, there’s a chance it could have been 5-0 or 6-0 by the end of the inning. Four runs seems merciful based on the actual offense that was going on and how poor Darvish’s pitching looked.

For comparison, this is the stat line for Darvish’s last five starts:

30 ²⁄₃ innings, 35 K, 2 BB, 4 R, 3 ER

And his line tonight:

1 ²⁄₃ innings, 6H, 0K, 1BB, 4 ER

Not great!

The Astros had five well-hit balls against Darvish, which is tied for the most in one inning he’s ever allowed.

There’s no way you can spin his start to be good, the only positive news being that Kenta Maeda took over and got a third out without further damage, and Lance McCullers allowed a run in the next half inning thanks to his own pitching struggles.

Maybe everybody just forget to check their pitching arms on the flight from L.A. to Houston.