Yu Darvish finally feels like he’s just pitching for the Texas Rangers.

Forget the outside pressure of trying to impress everybody else. The big righthander is starting to look agai

n like the star on the mound he was in Japan before coming to the major leagues this season.

‘‘He was trying to impress a ton of people,’’ Texas manager Ron Washington said. ‘‘And I think right now, the only thing he’s concerned about is impressing Yu Darvish. And once he does that, he impresses everyone else.’’

Darvish struck out 10 over seven innings for the AL West-leading Rangers to win a 1-0 pitchers’ duel against James Shields and the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night.

Ian Kinsler homered to give Texas enough against the suddenly sliding Rays, who have lost four straight.

Darvish (13-9) has a majors-best eight 10-strikeout games.

‘‘As my manager said, that’s exactly what I'm doing right now, is just focusing on pitching, competing against the hitters,’’ Darvish said through his interpreter. ‘‘I'm not worried about the outside stuff, or even giving up walks. I'm just pitching right now.’’

Marlins 9, Nationals 0 — Stephen Strasburg gave up a career-high seven runs in five innings and Ricky Nolasco (10-12) and host Miami handed first-place Washington its fifth straight loss.

Strasburg (15-6), who had won his past four starts, allowed five earned runs, gave up nine hits and struck out only three. He leads the NL with 186 strikeouts.

Orioles 6, White Sox 0 — Chris Tillman allowed one hit over seven innings, Nick Markakis drove in three runs, and host Baltimore defeated Chris Sale (15-5) and Chicago for its fourth straight win.

Yankees 2, Blue Jays 1 — Phil Hughes (13-11) won his sixth consecutive decision at Yankee Stadium, giving up only Adeiny Hechavarria’s first major league homer in seven innings, Nick Swisher had an RBI single, and New York handed Ricky Romero his 11th straight loss.

Pirates 9, Cardinals 0 — Pedro Alvarez homered twice and drove in four runs and James McDonald (12-6) scattered two hits over seven innings for host Pittsburgh.

Athletics 7, Indians 0 — Brandon Moss and Chris Carter homered, and Tommy Milone and three relievers extended host Cleveland’s scoreless streak to 22 innings as Oakland rolled to its fourth straight win.

Mets 9, Phillies 5 — Ike Davis hit a tiebreaking double during a four-run 10th inning, Kelly Shoppach had a two-run homer, and visiting New York beat Philadelphia its third straight victory.

Mariners 5, Twins 2 — Dustin Ackley hit a three-run homer, Hisashi Iwakuma (5-3) was hard to hit, and Seattle handed host Minnesota its 16th loss in 19 games.

Giants 3, Astros 2 — Pinch hitter Hector Sanchez connected on the go-ahead RBI single in the ninth inning and San Francisco rallied to win in Houston.

Royals 9, Tigers 8 — Mike Moustakas had three hits and three RBIs and host Kansas City whacked Detroit ace Justin Verlander for eight earned runs over 5⅔ innings.

Reds 5, Diamondbacks 2 — Johnny Cueto scattered four hits over seven innings for his major league-leading 17th win and visiting Cincinnati stretched its lead in the NL Central to seven games over St. Louis.

Rockies 8, Dodgers 4 — Wilin Rosario homered among three hits and drove in three runs, Tyler Chatwood pitched five effective innings, and host Colorado handed Los Angeles its third straight loss.

Braves 2, Padres 0 — Kris Medlen extended his scoreless streak to 28⅓ innings by holding San Diego to five singles over eight innings for visiting Atlanta.

Brewers 4, Cubs 1 — Jeff Bianchi hit a three-run shot for his first big league homer, leading Milwaukee past host Chicago.