SEATTLE (AP) — Going up against a team he’s seen only once in the past five seasons, San Diego’s Yu Darvish had to do some extra homework in his prep getting ready to face the Seattle Mariners.
Challenging? Actually, the opposite.
“Actually, it’s more fun because you haven’t seen these guys and you’re digging in,” Darvish said through an interpreter. “So it’s more fun for me.”
The results backed up the work Darvish put in as he limited Seattle to two hits over eight inning, and the Padres beat the Mariners 2-0 on Tuesday night.
Wil Myers provided the primary offensive highlight with an RBI double, but this night was all about the Padres right-hander on the mound.
“I mean, every pitch was working,” San Diego catcher Austin Nola said. “I can’t think of a pitch that he didn’t throw for a strike. He threw every pitch for a strike I think he had in his arsenal.”
Darvish pitched at least eight shutout innings for the eighth time, but the first since June 28, 2014, against Minnesota when he was pitching for Texas.
San Diego stayed two games ahead of Milwaukee in the chase for the final wild card spot in the NL, while Seattle dropped into a tie with Tampa Bay a half-game behind Toronto in the AL race for the top spot.