WASHINGTON -- The night after a miraculous ninth-inning rally to end a tie and secure the Padres’ first win of the second half, there was a less enthusiastic ending to San Diego’s first loss post-break.
Not for any lack of trying, though.
Yu Darvish delivered five solid innings on Saturday night in his third start of the year, a 4-2 loss to the Nationals. The offense provided some support and the defense -- highlighted by a heads-up double play from Jackson Merrill in the third inning -- did its job, but it wasn’t enough to secure the series win.
“We played a really good baseball game,” manager Mike Shildt said. “It was a good baseball game overall. … Defense was on display tonight, you know, a couple [plays] with Jackson, I mean, wow. What a play Jackson made. And the big play he made in the eighth was, you know, highlight-reel. And Darvish’s play in the first on the swinging bunt was fantastic. But we played tremendous defense tonight and just couldn’t figure out a way to get on top.”
“I mean, we compete, right?” Jose Iglesias said. “We never give up. And sometimes we win, sometimes you lose -- it’s part of the game. Got to be able to turn the page and come back tomorrow.”
There was a moment in the eighth where, for a split second (or however long a replay review takes), it looked like the Padres were about to force another implosion from the Nats bullpen, but it was short-lived. Fernando Tatis Jr., caught in a rundown between third and home after a blooper back to the mound, was initially called safe -- leaving the bases loaded with one out. But a review overturned the safe call, and San Diego was left with runners on first and second with two outs, their rally spark squashed before it could grow to even an ember.
“We had some traffic out there that couldn’t quite cash [in] to get that proverbial big hit,” Shildt said.
The only players who really touched Darvish for any damage were at the bottom of the Nationals’ lineup. Brady House, Daylen Lile and Drew Millas -- some of Washington’s youngest stars -- strung together three base hits with two outs in the bottom of the second to give the Nats a 2-0 lead. But Darvish responded in kind, regrouping after escaping the frame.
“The results [after that inning] were obviously good,” Darvish said via interpreter Shingo Horie. “But there were some hard-hit balls. And I think the defense behind me did a phenomenal job. So I feel like I was a little bit lucky, you know, being able to get out of those innings afterwards.”
Darvish allowed just three runs on five hits and one walk, with one strikeout. That third run came in the fifth, after Darvish gave up a leadoff walk to Lile, who came around to score after a one-out single from Jacob Young and an RBI groundout from CJ Abrams.
“I wasn’t particularly happy about how I was pitching out there,” Darvish said. “I was able to go five innings, and that’s the longest that I’ve been able to go after coming back, so I think that part was good. But I was maybe getting too much in the strike zone. So that part, I think, I can adjust and be better next [time].
“... It’s just part of coming back to the game: Mechanical adjustments that I need to fine-tune in order to have that right command. Once I get there, I should be fine.”
As the 38-year-old Darvish eases back into his workload, the results (and specifically the box score) mean less than the less tangible impacts. While Saturday was Darvish’s longest outing by innings so far, it was also just 69 pitches. Comparatively, his prior outing -- 4 2/3 innings vs. the Phillies on July 12 -- was 83 pitches.
“I think after his third start, he’s effectively back,” Shildt said. “We didn’t want to tack another inning on him. We got a pretty fresh bullpen, carrying nine guys, ran into some traffic -- but I feel like he’s back. … Overall, thought it was an encouraging outing.”
So, Darvish continues on, still seeking his first win of the season -- which, when he gets it, will put him past Hiroki Kuroda for the most combined wins between Japan and MLB.
“Yu being back on the mound and physically being out there, as you look out and you got a guy with 203 career professional wins that is out there with that experience, there’s leadership that takes place on the field too, so it’s very comforting to see him back,” Shildt said.