Kuroda Dominates as Yankees Defeat Rangers Again

On Tuesday night, catcher Russell Martin’s communication with Kuroda was kept to a minimum.

“I think I said ‘good job’ about nine times,” Martin said. “And that’s it.”

Kuroda had no need for tutelage or pep talks. He was not quite flawless — his no-hit bid ended in the seventh inning — but he turned in a masterly performance, shutting down the Texas Rangers, 3-0, on two hits. He struck out five and walked two in his fourth career shutout.

“Probably our best pitching performance this year,” Manager Joe Girardi said.

A current ran through the crowd at Yankee Stadium after Kuroda threw a 1-2-3 sixth inning, having cruised through the first 19 batters with only two walks allowed. But in the seventh, the leadoff batter, Elvis Andrus, hit a sharp grounder to shortstop that a diving Jayson Nix could not come up with cleanly. Once Andrus reached, the crowd gave Kuroda a standing ovation.

In his first year in the American League, Kuroda has overcome some early-season struggles, adapted to new teams, and, suddenly, assumed the role of the Yankees’ ace while C. C. Sabathia sits on the disabled list.

It is hard to argue with his production. Since May 27, Kuroda has won 8 of 10 decisions with a 2.29 earned run average. His overall E.R.A. is down to 3.06.

“He’s the type of guy that likes big games,” said Martin, who caught him for three seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. “He’s a competitor, and he enjoys the spotlight.”

Kuroda’s effort almost went unrewarded. The Yankees did not score until the seventh, when Nick Swisher drove a 98-miles-per-hour fastball from reliever Alexi Ogando into the bullpen in right field for a two-run homer. Mark Teixeira followed with a home run four pitches later.

The runs came after the Rangers’ starter, the hard-throwing left-hander Matt Harrison, exited. He had shut down the Yankees through six and a third innings, allowing five hits, but was at 106 pitches. The Yankees had made him work.

They just could not score. The Yankees loaded the bases with two outs in the third, but Curtis Granderson popped out to center on the first pitch.

“He was pitching right with Hiro all night,” Teixeira said of Harrison. “He was just filthy tonight.”

Once Harrison left in the seventh after Derek Jeter singled, Swisher drilled Ogando’s 3-2 fastball for the home run, and Teixeira followed with his. So the spotlight swung back to Kuroda, who was devastating with a slider-fastball combination that kept Texas’s hitters off balance.

“It just seemed like there was nothing in the middle of the plate to hit,” Martin said. “The hitters were taking tough swings. He’s got sinkers that are going this way and sliders going the other way and splitters going down. He’s a tough at-bat tonight for anybody.”

Before the seventh, only one ball looked problematic: a soft grounder by Mitch Moreland toward second base. Robinson Cano had to charge to his right but nabbed Moreland by a step.

In the seventh, Andrus roped a first-pitch slider up the middle, forcing Nix — playing at short in place of Jeter, who was the designated hitter — to dive to his left. He knocked down the ball, but his throw was well behind the speedy Andrus.

When asked if he felt early on that he had electric stuff, Kuroda said through an interpreter that it never crossed his mind. “They’ve got a great lineup,” Kuroda said. “I focused on one hitter at a time.”

It was not the first time Kuroda has flirted with a no-hitter. While with the Dodgers, he pitched a one-hitter against Atlanta on July 7, 2008. It was Teixeira who broke up Kuroda’s perfect game with a double in the eighth.

Martin was catching that game, too. “He had just as good stuff today,” Martin said. “It was pretty much the best I’ve seen.”

This time Kuroda shut down one of the game’s best offenses. And a potential postseason opponent for the Yankees got a taste of what he has to offer.

INSIDE PITCH

Yankees starter Andy Pettitte said an X-ray of his broken left ankle on Monday showed improvement, but he remains weeks from returning to the mound. Pettitte’s rehabilitation work will remain riding a stationary bike and long tossing until doctors clear him to run and pitch. “I’m trying to just do what they tell me to do and take it as easy as I possibly can until I can get on the mound,” he said.