A record crowd at Oakland Coliseum sees their Athletics take the first game of a four-game series from the Rangers in dominating fashion, 14-5.

Back on August 9 of 2014, Yu Darvish went to the mound for his fifth inning of work, down 2-0 against the Astros, a team he pretty much owned his entire career.

He promptly gave up a single, a single, a walk, a double and a single before being pulled after having given up four runs without recording an out in the inning.

It was reported he had tightness in his elbow.

Darvish said it was nothing.

Don’t worry about it, he said, he wouldn’t need surgery or anything, just time to heal.

Soon afterward, he went on the fifteen-day disabled list. Soon after that, he was shut down for the remainder of the year. He needed surgery. He just didn’t know it yet.

The following March, in his first exhibition game of spring training, after throwing just one inning, Darvish felt tightness in his tricep and left the game.

Darvish said it was nothing.

Don’t worry about it, he said, he wouldn’t need surgery or anything, just time to heal.

Soon afterward, he would be lost for the year.

A week ago, on June 8, after pitching five innings against the Astros, in just his third start since Tommy John surgery, Yu Darvish came out of the game due to tightness in his shoulder.

Darvish was quick to point out that it was nothing.

Don’t worry about it, he said, he won’t miss a start or anything.

He missed last night’s start. Yesterday, Darvish was put on the fifteen-day disabled list. They said there’s no structural damage, it’s just tightness in his shoulder and neck. Shut him down for a bit and let it rest.

Let’s cross our collective fingers and hope that this is nothing. But don’t be surprised if we don’t see Darvish back on the mound for a long time.

With Darvish, fifteen days has a funny way of turning into sixty, then ninety, then the season. Nothing has a strange way of turning into something pretty serious.

“It’s nothing.”

Maybe it’s part of Darvish’s culture not to admit a weakness. Maybe it’s part of being an athlete not to let on his body is not right.

Or, maybe since Darvish doesn’t speak English very well, he simply doesn’t know what the word nothing means.

*****
TODAY’S GAME:

Martin Perez (5-4, 3.22) vs. Eric Surkamp (0-3, 6.41)
Game time: 9:05 pm

How the Rangers hit against Surkamp.
How the Athletics hit against Perez.