Tatis, Darvish lead Padres in win over Cubs |
SAN DIEGO - It's always nice to face a former teammate now and then, which is what the Chicago Cubs (25-32) had an opportunity to do when they took on the San Diego Padres (27-31) at Petco Park on Saturday night. Taking the ball for the Friars was former Chicago Cubs ace Yu Darvish who has been struggling a bit this season, but so has the majority of the Padres team.
When Darvish is on top of his game, he can be one of the better starters in this league, and he was undoubtedly on in this one, delivering what could be one of his best starts of the season. Darvish got through seven very strong innings, walking one and striking out nine. He also allowed two hits and no runs, as the Cubs had no answers for him. Not only did he do his part on the mound, but Fernando Tatis Jr provided all the offense the Padres would need as he connected for two homers and four RBIs to lead the Padres to a 6-0 victory over the Cubs. Opposing Darvish was left-hander Drew Smyly, one of the Cub's better starters this season. Apart from his last start, which you could make a claim that it was his worst start of the season, Smyly has not only been consistent but has been very good all season. Saturday saw Smyly pitch well enough to get the win, but when your offense doesn't score well enough isn't good enough. Smyly pitched into the sixth but couldn't finish the sixth as he finished with one walk and four strikeouts in 5 2/3. He allowed three runs on seven hits across his outing, but an RBI double from Trent Grishman would provide the Padres with all the offense they would need in what was a rough night for the Cubs. Things appeared to be a pitcher's duel in the early going, with Darvish picking up three groundouts in the first inning and Smyly striking out the first two he faced before Juan Soto connected for a double. Darvish worked around a one-out walk from Dansby Swanson in the second to strikeout the side before their offense went to work off of Smyly in the bottom of the second. Gary Sanchez and Jake Cronenworth started the bottom of the second with a pair of singles before moving up 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt. That bunt was followed by a Brandon Dixon sacrifice fly to provide the Padres with the lone run they would need, while Grishman connected for an RBI double shortly after to make things 2-0. Miles Mastrobuoni provided one of the two hits off of Darvish with his single in the second, but nothing more came from it as their offense was silenced all game. San Diego extended their lead in the bottom of the third with Tatis Jr connecting for the first of what would be two homers in the game for him as the Padres jumped out to a 3-0 lead. This would be the game's final run for quite some time as Smyly settled into a nice groove to finish his start, while the Cubs bullpen did their job in the early going. Following that single from Mastrobuoni, Darvish was dominant as he retired 12 straight hitters at one point and 13 of 14 as he pitched like a former Cy Young winner. The same can't be said about Smyly, who, despite not allowing another run the rest of the way, had to work around several jams, including a leadoff double from Ha-Seong Kim in the fourth and big-time trouble in the sixth. Smyly walked Kim and Grishman during that sixth inning but was on the verge of working out of that jam when David Ross removed him for Michael Fulmer. Fulmer has quietly started to bounce back in high-leverage situations, and with his inning-ending strikeout to Xander Bogaerts, the Cubs were still within striking distance to begin the seventh. As mentioned, Darvish was on a huge role only to have Swanson end that with a single in the seventh, but the Cubs were kept off the board as Darvish gave the Padres seven dominating innings. The Cubs continued to play with fire in the bottom half of the seventh as Fulmer didn't make it easy on himself with a pair of walks. However, he managed to keep the Padres off the board, which is all you can ask for at this point in the game. With Darvish out of the game, for the Cubs to have a shot at coming back, they would need to get it done against the Padres best, with Nick Martinez coming on to pitch the eighth and retiring the side in order. On the flip side, the Cubs pen had to continue keeping the Padres offense in check, with Jeremiah Estrada called on to pitch the eighth. Anytime you allow two of the first three hitters to reach off of singles, it is not a good sign, but with two outs and no runs across, Estrada had a chance to finish things. That was until Tatis Jr took it upon himself to put the game away as his second homer of the night was the big blow with the Padres extending their lead to 6-0 entering the ninth. From there, it was time for Brent Honeywell to finish things as he worked around a one-out walk to Nico Hoerner to lock things down as the Padres evened up the series 1-1 with their 6-0 win. The Cubs had only four base runners in the game, with Mastrobuoni and Swanson picking up both hits while adding walks from Hoerner and Swanson. The Cubs return to Petco Park on Sunday when they send their Ace, Marcus Stroman, to the mound against Ryan Weathers. The first pitch is set for 5:10 CDT. In case you missed it, the Cubs announced before the game that Justin Steele will indeed hit the 15-day IL as more of a cautionary approach. Ross doesn't feel his injury is severe and only expects him to miss two starts during that time, and Hayden Wesneski will slide back into the rotation. The corresponding move was seeing Miguel Amaya called back up, as he is expected to see more time behind the plate over the struggling Tucker Barnhardt.
