Ron Washington is defending the 130 pitches he allowed Yu Darvish to throw against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday night.
Darvish had already thrown 104 pitches with the Texas Rangers holding a 9-4 lead after six innings when the right-hander was sent back out to the mound.
"I saw the big lead," Washington said. "The lineup they got, it's not soft anywhere in it. Even though we had the lead, I wasn't comfortable. I felt like he needed to get us through the eighth inning to give our bullpen a break, and he certainly did that."
Darvish, who threw 127 pitches two starts ago against Boston, said he wanted to keep going when Washington came up to him after the seventh inning and asked for another inning.
"Wash asked if I could go longer, and he seemed like he wanted me to go longer," Darvish said. "I felt good. And I wanted to help the bullpen."
Via Todd Wills/ESPN