Darvish finished the season with a 15–5 record, a 1.82 ERA (coming only 0.003 points short of the league lead, which went to Chiba Lotte Marines left-hander Yoshihisa Naruse), a .174 batting average against, and 210 strikeouts, the most in the league.
In the second round of the Climax Series (playoffs) versus the Marines, he won both of his starts to lead the Fighters to their second consecutive league title.
Darvish pitched a 13-strikeout, full game win in an epic pitchers’ battle with then-Dragons ace Kenshin Kawakami in Game 1 of the Japan Series that followed on October 27 against the Dragons, becoming the third pitcher in Japan Series history to strike out 13 or more batters in a single game.
Darvish started Game 5 on 1 November, with the Fighters trailing 3–1 and facing elimination, and limited the Dragons to a single run while striking out 11.
However, the Fighters were unable to respond to opposing right-handed pitcher Daisuke Yamai and closer Hitoki Iwase, failing to get a single runner on base and allowing the first perfect game in Japan Series history.
However, according to NPB regulations, a perfect game must be thrown by a single pitcher, hence this game was not a perfect game. The Dragons won the game 1-0, attributing the loss to Darvish, and won the Japan Series.
How Fast Is Yu Darvish Slider?
Yu Darvish’s Slider has a peak speed of 95.0 mph, with an average velocity of 89.0 mph. It is common for Yu Darvish to have a hand-to-plate rotation of 10.4 revolutions (1472 RPM). Only 35% of the time does he get the ball in the strike zone.