Yu Darvish gave the Padres exactly what they needed.
Darvish struck out a season high-tying 12 in 7.0 innings, bouncing back from a terrible August to help the Padres to a 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks at Petco Park on Saturday night.
Manny Machado gave Yu a 1st inning lead with a solo home run off Arizona starter Taylor Widener. It was Machado's 21st of the year and his 76th RBI, pulling him into a tie with Jesus Aguilar for the National League lead.
The Diamondbacks took the lead in the 2nd inning, the one inning Darvish faltered. Kole Calhoun singled and scored on a 2-run homer by Christian Walker. Other than that, Yu was dominant.
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After going on the Injured List with back and hip tightness Darvish had a terrible July, posting an ERA north of 7.00. This outing was a lot like the kind of starts he made for the first half of the season that landed him on the All-Star Game roster.
Eric Hosmer tied it in the bottom of the 2nd with a solo homer. After that, the Friars let some opportunities get away. Tommy Pham led off the 3rd inning with a double but was left standing at 3rd base. In the 4th, the Padres loaded the bases with nobody out on two walks and a single.
Victor Caratini popped up on the infield and Darvish grounded into a double play to end the threat.
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Trent Grisham led off the 7th inning with a single and Darvish was removed (after a healthy 93 pitches) for pinch-hitter Ha-Seong Kim. The rookie put together a fantastic at-bat, working a 10-pitch walk against DBacks reliever Tyler Gilbert.
Again, San Diego's bats couldn't cash in. Tommy Pham grounded into an inning-ending double play.
In the 8th, the Friars finally broke through. Adam Frazier led off with a single and stole 2nd base without a throw. Machado followed with an RBI single off Brett de Geus to put the Padres on top 3-2. Trent Grisham drew a bases-loaded walk then Austin Nola put it out of reach with a 2-run single that made it 6-2.
Mark Melancon worked a scoreless 9th in a non-save situation. The Padres can win the series with Blake Snell on the mound against Madison Bumgarner.
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