Strong start

Darvish 2 hitless innings in Cubs spring training debut

If Yu Darvish was tipping his pitches in the World Series last year, he seems to have fixed it. Darvish threw two hitless innings in his spring training debut for the Chicago Cubs, facing his former teammates on the Los Angeles Dodgers. When last on the mound, Darvish was chased by Houston after getting just five outs in both Games 3 and 7 of the World Series. Darvish said he was moved to lose 15 pounds “because of what happened in the World Series.” Darvish was concerned about the possible impact of the weight loss on his velocity but those worries seemed unwarranted Tuesday.

“It was right up there,” he said of his velocity, speaking through a translator. “Glad it’s 95.” There was speculation that the Astros had figured out what sort of pitches Darvish was about to throw.

“They could simply be a good, strong team,” Darvish said, adding he has considered “various things to keep consistency and mix up pitches and throw from the same slot.”

Darvish struck out four, including Corey Seager, Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig in the opening inning. The Japanese star allowed one run when Chris Taylor walked leading off the game and circled the bases on a pair of wild pitches around a stolen base.

Signed to a $126-million, six-year deal, Darvish says he’s enjoying wearing the new uniform.

“Everybody is happy here,” he said. “I certainly feel comfortable being a Cub.” Darvish also has warm feelings toward the Dodgers.

“Every one of them is great. I don’t want to hit any batters. I have that in mind,” he said He joked with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, saying he would beat the Dodgers.

“I only said I’m going to beat them in spring training,” Darvish said. “After the first three batters, I think I was able to command my fastball, slider and curve really well,” he said. Darvish is coming off a World Series in which he twice was hit hard by the champion Houston Astros, including a rough outing in Game 7 at Dodger Stadium.