Yu Darvish’s first start for the Rangers was nearly a disaster. Instead, he earned the win.

After walking only 36 of 885 batters last season while pitching for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, Darvish walked three of the first eight Mariner hitters he faced tonight. He needed 42 pitches to get through the top of the first inning, giving up four runs in the process.

After relinquishing a fifth run in the second inning, the Japanese ace settled down, throwing a total of 110 pitches — 59 for strikes — over five and two-third innings while fanning five. His four-seam fastball topped out at 95.8 miles per hour.

Interestingly, Darvish had considerable difficulty retiring his fellow countrymen: Ichiro Suzuki went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored and Munenori Kawasaki went 1-for-2 with a walk.

Meanwhile, the Rangers’ bats more than compensated for Darvish’s early challenges, hitting four home runs, including a couple of three-run blasts, en route to an 11-5 victory.