Yu Darvish displays rust in his return to the Padres, and Fernando Tatis Jr. provides a walk-off victory.
Perhaps the best way to look at his appearance is as a prelude to when the Padres will truly need him. The Tigers scored in each of the three innings the seasoned right-hander started, making it a demanding and short start for the pitcher—his first in 98 days.
He does, however, have time. He will also be necessary to assist the Padres both during and after the season. if they manage to arrive.With a guy who recently returned to the active roster driving in the winning run with two outs in the tenth inning, they rallied to defeat the Tigers 6-5, and they are still moving in that way.
The first walk-off hit of Fernando Tatis Jr.’s career pushed the Padres ahead of the Diamondbacks by half a game in the National League’s top wild-card berth.
When Tatis struck out in his second game following a 72-day absence due to a stress response in his right femur, Padres manager Mike Shildt said, “What a big moment.” Nobody really doubted that he would succeed, in my opinion. It felt rather correct. He simply kept it brief and to himself, bringing it home for us.
The Padres had missed two chances to score runs in the lead, but they eventually struck when the Tigers purposefully walked Luis Arraez in order to get to Tatis, who grounded out through the left side to score Jackson Merrill from second base. As soon as Tatis saw four fingers, he stated, “I took it as personal.” Like, ‘Oh, it seems like they’re testing me. Indeed. However, that’s a component of the gameplay. And you simply attempt to win in situations like that, embracing the occasion.
The seventh Padres reliever to work on Monday, Jeremiah Estrada, pitched a scoreless 10th and earned the win. Manager Shildt remarked, “This one has a lot of heroes. “With Merrill’s three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning and the Padres behind 5-0 following Yuki Matsui’s two-run home drive allowed in the fourth, the team began to rally.
In the fifth, when Tatis doubled and Manny Machado singled, they added two more runs. Arraez had singled to start the inning. With one out in the sixth, they had a runner on second base, David Peralta, who stopped to check if Arraez’s line-drive single would be caught, but he tripped, preventing them from scoring.
He could have reached third base on the single and scored on Tatis’ subsequent fly ball, but the foul kept him from doing so. Machado’s bases-loaded lineout brought the inning to a close. After loading the bases with one out in the seventh, the inning was terminated by two ground balls.
After making his first start since May 29, Darvish was done after tossing 63 pitches in 2⅔ innings; this break was caused by him being placed on the injured list, which was followed by being placed on the restricted list.
Shingo Horie, Darvish’s interpreter, stated, “I think the pitches were good overall, but I think I was a little bit too intense on the mound, maybe trying to do too much, which led to missing some spots here and there.” Still, I didn’t think it was all that horrible.
As a game progresses, Darvish usually gets better. But on Wednesday, there wasn’t much runway. At the beginning of this start, a pitch limit was assigned. And he was making rapid headway against it.
After being placed on the disabled list, Darvish quickly made a comeback, pitching 66 pitches in four innings against minor leaguers in Arizona a week later and taking the field in two simulated innings at Petco Park the following day. That was Friday. The Padres decided Wednesday was the right day after learning about Darvish’s pitching velocity and his declaration of readiness.
Determining that Darvish was rusty on Wednesday would be simple. Out of the 14 hitters he faced, he trailed seven of them and struck out four with walks. Typically, Darvish has more time to establish his rhythm, which he frequently does.
Wednesday, he was relieved of that opportunity after giving up a two-out home run to Matt Vierling on a 0-2 fastball, throwing 26 pitches in the first inning, allowing a leadoff walk to score, throwing 19 more in the second, and giving up another run via a walk, stolen base, and single before Matsui relieved him in the third.
Given that Joe Musgrove has posted a 1.30 ERA in his five starts since returning from the injured list, it was a little unrealistic to expect him to start throwing as quickly as ever.Due to an elbow injury, Musgrove missed 77 games and took a more conventional approach to recovery, recovering with the team and gaining strength little by bit.
Due to elbow irritation, Darvish was placed on the injured list the next day after leaving his start on May 29 after three innings.Days from his return, he was put on the restricted list after it was decided it would not be appropriate for him to receive compensation while he handled a family issue, requiring an undetermined period of time.
Maintaining contact with A.J. Preller, the president of baseball operations for the Padres, helped him stay in shape when he was on the restricted list. However, he was not permitted to utilize club facilities, and the Padres were mainly ignorant of his actions.
After his ERA rose to 3.51, Darvish is expected to make three more regular season starts on Tuesday in Seattle. “I believe that being slightly more composed before the game is crucial,” he remarked. It’s like getting adjusted to the clock all over again. Therefore, I believe that trying to be a little bit more calm would be helpful. Padres Every Day Get Kevin Acee’s unique take on the most recent Padres news, trends, and opinions.