Kuroda vs. Darvish excites Japan more than Hiroki

ARLINGTON, Texas -- All of Japan may be caught up in Tuesday night's pitching matchup, but Hiroki Kuroda isn't.

Either that, or he put on a heck of a poker face Monday in discussing his start against countryman Yu Darvish, the hard-throwing phenom signed by the Rangers in the offseason.

"This is not a one-on-one game," said Kuroda, 37. "It's the Rangers against the Yankees, and I'm going to do as much as possible so that our team's going to win."

The Rangers signed Darvish, 25, to a six-year, $60-million contract on top of a $51.7-million posting fee. Yankees scouts liked Darvish, 2-0 with a 3.57 ERA in three starts this season, but the organization was reluctant to commit that kind of money to an unknown.

Among the pitches Darvish throws is a mid-90s fastball, though one scout said the righthander's command has been "shaky since spring training."

Entering Tuesday, Darvish, whom Kuroda called "one of the greatest pitchers Japan has produced," has struck out 14 and walked 13 in 172/3 innings.

"You're curious what our hitters are going to do, how they're going to react to his stuff," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I'm curious."

Pudge makes it official

Longtime Rangers catcher Ivan "Pudge'' Rodriguez officially announced his retirement Monday afternoon after a 21-year career and was honored during a pregame ceremony.

Girardi, who managed Rodriguez for 33 games in 2008 after the Yankees acquired him from the Tigers for Kyle Farnsworth, said the catcher is a "no- doubt" Hall of Famer because of his offensive numbers, including a .296 career average and 2,844 hits, and a throwing arm that Girardi said was not equaled by anyone else he's seen. In regular-season play, he caught 46 percent of those who ran on him.

"One of the greatest catchers of all time," Girardi said. "Remarkable what he did on the offensive side. Twenty-eight-hundred-plus hits as a catcher is amazing . . . You just didn't run on his teams. He changed the way you played against them."

Pineda MRI date changed

Michael Pineda (rotator cuff tendinitis), who was supposed to have a dye-contrast MRI in New York Monday, instead will have it Tuesday. Girardi said there was a scheduling conflict and that the team should have results Tuesday afternoon.

Martin sits

Chris Stewart caught CC Sabathia Monday night, giving Russell Martin two days off after Sunday's rainout. "He's caught pretty much every day for us," Girardi said of Martin, who started 13 of the first 15 games. "I figured I'd give him a couple days."