Darvish twirls a gem, but Padres lose 5-2 to Cardinals
Jun 21, 2021; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish (11) reacts after the last out of the top of the sixth inning was recorded against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
On a Tuesday evening, Yu Darvish twirled an early season gem, going seven strong innings with one walk and six strikeouts on 82 pitches.
In several innings, Darvish needed less than nine pitches to send the Cards back to the field.
For an overtaxed bullpen and a starting rotation that understandably hasn’t gone deep this year, Darvish provided a much-needed breath of fresh air. But in the end, the Padres couldn’t get enough offense, and neither their bullpen nor defense could keep the game close.
The score was close, however, for most of the game, as the Padres started the scoring with Luis Campusano singling in Jurickson Profar in the second inning.
The Cards responded the next inning on a sac fly from Masyn Winn, who brought home Victor Scott, tying the game. Scott and Tatis had a fun matchup, testing one of the fastest baserunners against one of the best athletes and arms in the outfield. Scott won on a double to right, in which he just got under the tag of Ha-Seong Kim at second base.
Tyler Wade doubled in Luis Campusano in the 4th inning, and the Padres held the lead until the 6th inning when Wilson Contreras took a hanging splitter deep for a two-run home run.
Down 3-2 in the 8th inning, Yuki Matsui couldn’t record an out, leaving the bases loaded for Wandy Peralta in an impossible position.
He did the best he could to limit the damage with two runs scored. One sac fly and a fielder’s choice in which Campusano missed the plate with his foot on a force-out was enough for St. Louis to secure the win. The Padres were unable to get anything going in either the 8th or the 9th inning of the St. Louis bullpen.
The bottom of the Padres order again provided much of the offense, as Campusano and Wade contributed with a run each, and Merrill chipped in with some nice defensive work and a hit.
However, the top of the lineup again couldn’t contribute, with only three hits on 16 at-bats, two of those belonging to Tatis. The Padres had their opportunities to provide Darvish with support, but eight runners stranded on base left Darvish with a loss to show for his hard work.
The Padres will try to avoid the sweep on Wednesday afternoon as Joe Musgrove faces Zack Thompson.
A Native San Diegan, Loren has spent his entire life not only as a fan but an active participant in San Diego’s sports world. In 2006 Loren joined two other die hard Charger fans to create Bolttalk, where Loren was a co-host and regular columnist from 2006 until the Chargers left in 2017. After that he started another podcast, The Grid Podshow, from 2020-2021 with his former co-host and colleague, speaking about the local sports community and popular culture.
When he’s not giving his opinion about San Diego sports, Loren is an adjunct professor at San Diego State and an attorney.