TORONTO -- Yu Darvish was excellent. R.A Dickey wasnt bad either. And J.P. Arencibia returned with a bang. Darvish (9-5) scattered five hits and struck out 12 over 6 2/3 innings and former Blue Jay Arencibia hit a three-run homer to help the Texas Rangers end their eight-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over Toronto on Friday night. Dickey (7-10) started strongly for the Jays but paid for a seventh-inning knuckleball that got away and was slammed into the left-field seats by Arencibia. "It just knuckled into the barrel, thankfully, because the other ones I swung and missed by a foot," said Arencibia, who struck out twice. Dickey has now lost six of his last seven starts, during which the Jays have scored a total of 11 runs. It was a matchup of two teams in a nosedive, played before 38,012 on a pleasant 22-degree night with the roof open at Rogers Centre. The Rangers (39-57), mired in the longest current losing streak in the majors, had lost 14 of their last 15 games and 22 of 25. Toronto (49-48) had dropped eight of its last 10, 11 of 15 and 17 of 25. But Darvish proved to be the tonic needed for Texas, which is now 12-6 this season when the elegant right-hander from Japan starts. Through six innings, every Blue Jays starter had struck out at least once and Texas finished with 17 strikeouts on the night. "It started on the mound," said Texas manager Ron Washington. "Yu was able to pitch around some traffic that he had on the bases and make some pitches in some key situations. He kept us in the ball game until we could get something going offensively. Despite a slump of its own, Toronto came into the game second in the AL East, four games back of Baltimore, while Texas was last in the AL West, 21 games behind the leading Athletics. Texas has a league-leading 15 players on the disabled list. The Rangers also lead the majors in players (50) and pitchers (30) used in 2014, and, with 15 rookies, is tied with Arizona for another MLB first. Like the Rangers, Toronto is missing key personnel. But manager John Gibbons wasnt making excuses. "When guys like Darvish are on, I dont care what your lineup looks like. Theyre going to cut you up pretty good. Theyre going to limit your opportunities," he said. "We had a couple tonight that we didnt cash in. We left a few guys on base (nine). Thats why hes one of the top pitchers in baseball. But I mean weve been in an offensive drought for a while now. And were due to break something out." It marked the sixth time this season that Darvish, who tied his season high for Ks, has recorded double-digit strikeouts. Toronto, which has now lost three straight games, had won eight of its last 10 against Texas since the start of 2013. The Jays offence continued to sputter, with one run on seven hits. Dickey opened strongly before faltering in the fifth when Adrian Beltre ended the knuckleballers scoreless run with a leadoff homer. Dickey had faced the minimum 12 batters in the first four innings before giving up the line-drive shot over the right-field fence on a 3-1 delivery, Beltres 14th homer of the season. Two outs later, Dickey hit Arencibia with a knuckleball that got away and second baseman Rougned Odor tripled him home to increase the lead to 2-0. Arencibia, a catcher making his MLB debut at first base, made it 5-0 with one out in the seventh when he cashed in back-to-back singles with his homer. "A big blow," said Gibbons. "I hope it gives him confidence," Washington said of Arencibia. "He certainly didnt lack it when he arrived here from the minor leagues. It was nice for him to come through right there. It was big, it was huge. Getting hit by the pitch was huge, too. He had a good night back. Its got to continue. At least he gives us some threat in that lineup." Colby Rasmus pulled one back with a leadoff homer to right field in the seventh, his 13th of the season. Darvish exited two outs later with the Jays having men on second and third after a walk and single. Left-hander Neal Cotts induced Melky Cabrera to fly out to end the inning. The Rasmus home run ended a scoreless streak of 16 innings -- and a 42-inning run without a homer for the Jays, who lead the majors in home runs. Darvish walked three and had two wild pitches, throwing 117 pitches including 69 strikes. Dickey gave up five earned runs on six hits in seven innings, striking out seven while walking two. He threw 109 pitches, 75 for strikes. "I thought Dickey was good. The three-run homer, of course, hurt," said Gibbons. "But hes been on a nice roll pitching. Were not winning his games. Were not scoring runs in his games. But take away that home run, I thought he was really good." The combined salaries of Dickey (US$12 million) and Darvish ($10 million) would nearly cover half of the CFLs salary cap hit. And they wasted little time showing why they collected such hefty paycheques. Dickey retired the first seven batters he faced before giving up a single to Odor. A pretty double play by Munenori Kawasaki ended the inning quickly, however. Darvish also kept the Jays off the bases in the early going with just two walks and two singles in the first five innings. Toronto had men on first and second with one out in the second but Darvish snuffed out the threat with two straight strikeouts. He struck out two more to end the fifth after walking Juan Francisco. Darvish did it again in the sixth, striking out two after Cabrera led off the inning with a bloop single before stealing second. Darvish had not pitched since July 9 other than an inning in Tuesdays all-star game. The six-foot-five right-hander came into the game having given up at least four earned runs in four of his last five starts. The game marked back-to-back starts for Dickey, who was on the mound for Torontos last game before the all-star break -- allowing two runs in six innings in a 3-0 loss to Tampa. He said the lack of run support was not in his mind. "No, not really. I cant control any of that. I have a hard enough time tending to my own garden. If I can just concentrate on being me and hopefully Ill get us deep into the ball game with a chance to win the game, hopefully I havent given up any runs. Thats all I can do. And thats all I try to do." Aaron Loup, Todd Redmond and Dustin McGowan followed Dickey. Closer Joakim Soria pitched the ninth for Texas, striking out two and giving up a single. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys . Unfortunately for the Cleveland Cavaliers, James Harden was in the building. Replica Soccer Jerseys .Y. - Referee Ed Hochuli referred to replay official Tom Sifferman by his nickname Jungle Boy, which was heard on the in-stadium microphone during the Arizona Cardinals-Carolina Panthers NFC wild-card game Saturday. https://www.soccerjerseyschina.us/ . - Mark Sanchez found out the New York Jets had acquired Tim Tebow on a conference call with team management. Stitched Soccer Jerseys . DArnaud hit one of three doubles for the Mets as they took a 4-0 lead in the first. Then the catchers seventh home run of the season broke the game open in the fifth. The 41-year-old Colon (10-8) retired the first 20 batters in his last outing Wednesday against Seattle, eventually allowing two runs on three hits in 7 1-3 innings in a 3-2 win. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys China . No, really, his head. Late in the game, the St. Louis goalie craned his neck into the air to block a shot, taking a puck square in the mask.Sacramento, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday. Harden scored a season-high 44 points to lead the Rockets in a 113-109 decision over the Sacramento Kings. Harden, who scored 34 points in a loss to Golden State on Wednesday, sent the game to overtime with a deep 3-pointer, then scored the first 10 Houston points in the extra session. That was definitely a tough game. Those guys on the other side definitely fought hard. We had the same energy, Harden said. We fought through it. Trevor Ariza and Patrick Beverley each netted 15 points and Donatas Motiejunas added 14 points for Houston, which has won five of its last six. Darren Collison had 24 points with seven assists and Ben McLemore tallied 21 points for the Kings. Harden fueled the Rockets comeback in regulation and continued in the extra session as he opened with seven straight points to give the Rockets a 102-95 lead with 3 1/2 minutes to play. The Houston offense ran through Harden in the overtime period. He slashed through the lane for a layup following a free throw from Jason Thompson, then split a pair of free throws to extend the lead to nine. (Harden) made shots when he needed to, Kings forward Rudy Gay said. He played great. Gay trimmed the deficit to six with a 3-pointer, but Harden drove on two defenders and skipped a pass over to Beverley, who nailed a corner 3 with 45.3 seconds left. Beverley missed 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch that allowed the Kings to hang around as Nik Stauskas trey made it a three-point game. Collison buried a 3 following a pair of free throws from Jason Terry, but Harden closed his evening with two free throows to account for the final margin.dddddddddddd The Rockets trailed by as many as 10 in the fourth. Harden tied the game at 88-88 with a tough dunk through traffic with 2 1/2 minutes left. Each team traded a basket before Gay drove and kicked out to an open Derrick Williams, who hit a 3-pointer to make it a 93-90 game. Motiejunas was whistled for his sixth foul at the other end, which allowed Thompson to make a pair of free throws and stretch it to a two-possession game. Houston trailed by three when Harden tossed up a high-arching trey that hit nothing but cotton to tie the game at 95-95 with 20.5 seconds on the clock. Gays jumper from just inside the arc rattled out on Sacramentos final chance in regulation. The Rockets grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with under a second left, but Hardens final effort was long. Sacramento led 46-36 at the half. Houston opened the third quarter on a 10-3 run to close the gap to 49-46 just 2 1/2 minutes in. Later in the quarter, Beverley nailed a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two, 55-53, then the Kings ripped off 10 straight as a McLemore dunk off a feed from Collison highlighted the surge. Harden scored the final four points of the third to cut it to 69-61 entering the fourth. Game Notes Houston has won four straight over the Kings ... Sacramento has lost two straight overall ... Williams scored 17 points off the bench in the setback ... Joey Dorsey had a career-high five steals in the win ... Houston went 15- of-44 from beyond the arc ... The Rockets scored 27 points off turnovers, while the Kings netted 20 off turnovers ... Thompson finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds for Sacramento. ' ' '