Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News was told by a source that Yu Darvish pitched down the stretch despite dealing with what appeared to be sciatica, a common form of lower back discomfort. Sciatica can be caused by compressed nerve roots or a protruding disk. There have been hints that Darvish was dealing with some sort of physical issue, but now we have our answer. The 27-year-old failed to complete the sixth inning in each of his final three starts, but still finished with a 2.83 ERA and a major-league best 277 strikeouts over 209 2/3 innings.