Yu Darvish missed his last trip through the rotation for a very good reason. He was off on paternity leave while his wife gave birth to their 4th child together, a baby boy. It took an inning for the Dad Energy to kick in but once it did, Yu was his All-Star self.
Darvish allowed three runs in the 1st inning in Kansas City but his offense picked him up in a 4-3 win over the Royals, their 2nd straight victory after an awful homestand.
Yu came out of the gate giving up three runs on three hits, a walk, and a hit batter. After that he was a different pitcher, going 6.0 shutout inning while allowing just two more hits and at one point retiring 13 straight Royals hitters. His offense made up the deficit, plus one, in just two innings.
Wil Myers seems to be healthy and swinging the bat well again. In the 2nd inning he hit a long 2-run home run to the opposite field, his 2nd straight game with a bomb. Keep in mind, Wil had just one long ball for the entire season coming into this series.
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In the 3rd inning Jose Azocar and Juan Soto singled and came home on base hits by Manny Machado and Brandon Drury to put the Friars on top 4-3.
Oh, and the Friars also played some stellar defense. Right fielder Juan Soto, not usually known for his glove, made a pair of fabulous catches. In the 2nd inning he leapt to the top of the wall next to the foul pole to steal extra bases from Kyle Isbel then a few innings later came in and slid to rob Bobby Witt Jr. of a knock. Drury, getting the start at 2nd base, made a pretty backhand stop going to his right, leapt in the air, and threw a one-hopper to Myers at 1st base for an out. Then Wil made a backhanded stab of a line shot that was ticketed for right field.
After Darvish left Robert Suarez handled a scoreless 8th inning, punctuating it with a punchout of Nick Pratto on a 101-MPH fastball. With a 1-run lead in the 9th inning the Padres went with a guy who just might be their new closer, and he's not the guy they obtained in a high-profile deal at the trade deadline.
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Nick Martinez worked around an infield single to shut the door on his 6th save of the season. He's become arguably San Diego's most reliable reliever in 2022 and a much-needed resource for high-leverage late-inning situations while Josh Hader works through his issues.
The Padres can sweep the series on Sunday afternoon with Sean Manaea on the mound against Jonathan Heasley.
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