Darvish returns to Wrigley, lifts Padres over Cubs 4-1 and into first-place tie
CHICAGO — Yu Darvish pitched a season-high eight innings of five-hit ball, Manny Machado hit a tiebreaking single and Eric Hosmer had a two-run double to cap a threerun eighth inning as the San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 Monday night.
Darvish (6-3), pitching at Wrigley Field for the first time since the Cubs traded him to the Padres as the centerpiece of a seven-player trade on Dec. 29, 2020, didn’t allow a runner past second base after Yan Gomes hit a home run in the second.
“This is a place where a lot happened for me and a lot happened to me,” Darvish said. “But I’m really grateful to be here pitching.”
Taylor Rogers pitched a perfect ninth for his 19th save.
The Padres (38-24) won for the fifth time in their last seven games and rose into a virtual tie with the idle Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West. The Cubs (23-37) have lost seven consecutive games, matching their longest skid since Sept. 21-28, 2021.
The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 25 minutes because of rain that included tornado sirens throughout the Chicagoland area.
Cubs left-hander Justin Steele received medical attention one batter after unsuccessfully trying to field a hard grounder by Jake Cronenworth with his bare hand in the first. Steele remained in the game, but the Cubs had two lefthanded relievers warming in the bottom of the inning.
Steele pitched seven innings of one-run ball while throwing 60 of 77 pitches for strikes.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” said Steele, who had a bruise on his left index finger. “But I was able to manage the pain a little bit going through the start.”
However, the Padres pounced on reliever Rowan Wick (1-2), with Machado collecting his 1,499th career hit and scoring an insurance run on Hosmer’s double.
After Gomes homered, Darvish retired 11 consecutive batters until shortstop Ha-Seong Kim bobbled a grounder.
Steele found a similar groove, retiring nine of the next 10 batters after allowing consecutive singles to Kim and Trent Grisham to open the fifth.
Darvish allowed a pair of two-out hits to Christopher Morel and Willson Contreras in the eighth but struck out Ian Happ to end the eighth and complete a 107-pitch performance, one shy of his season high. Darvish has allowed one run while walking none in his last two starts covering 14 innings.
“Happ is a pretty good with sliders, we wanted to stay away from that,” Darvish said. “So the idea was to go with a fourseam fastball, mix in some slow curves and finish with a splitter. Basically, it went as planned.”
With the victory, Darvish has beaten every team but the Orioles (0-1) and Rangers (no decision in one start).
“He’s really a magician with the ball,” said Padres acting manager Ryan Flaherty, who is filling in while Bob Melvin and bench coach Ryan Christenson remain in COVID-19 protocols. “He can get himself back into any count. And he falls behind 2-1, 3-1, and he can get himself back. It just makes it harder on a hitter because even when you get the count in your favor, you can’t sit dead red on the fastball.”