ATLANTA—
Yu Darvish might be aging like a Cabernet Sauvignon, peaking in his second decade.
“With the years and experience,” Jurickson Profar said, “he’s just getting better and better.”
As he arrived at a hallowed milestone for a Japanese pitcher, Darvish is at least pitching as well as ever.
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His teammates gave him a head start as he took the final step to 200 wins. Not that he needed it, given that he allowed two hits across seven scoreless innings for the second consecutive start.
Nonetheless, the Padres scored three runs in the first inning, four more in the fourth and cruised to a 9-1 victory over the Braves on Sunday night at Truist Park.
Sunday was the 107th win in the United States for Darvish, now in his 12th season in the major leagues. Coupled with the 93 wins he earned in his seven seasons in Japan, he is now one of just three Japanese-born pitchers with at least 200 wins between Nippon Professional Baseball and MLB.
“I understand it’s a big number, but it’s still hard for me to comprehend it right now,” Darvish said through interpreter Shingo Horie. “... Those two other pitchers — Hideo Nomo and Hiroki Kuroda — obviously we know how good they are. And just to be able to be a little bit more closer to them, I feel honored.”
It might not be long before he passes Kuroda (203) and Nomo (201). Because for all its historical significance, Sunday also continued a run that indicates the 37-year-old right-hander remains vital.
Since returning from the injured list four starts ago, Darvish has not allowed a run. Going back to the final inning he threw before his IL stint, his 25-inning scoreless streak is the longest of his career.
His outings the past two Sundays have been the first time since 2014 he completed at least seven scoreless innings in successive starts.
And Sunday’s win, in which he struck out a season-high nine batters, gave Darvish a win in four consecutive starts for the first time since 2022 and just the fifth time in his MLB career.
“I changed my pitching mechanics a little bit,” he said of tweaks made during his stay on the IL with neck tightness. “So that might play into it a little bit. But I think it’s mostly luck.”
That would be a lot of luck, and it is not an explanation anyone other then Darvish would put forth.
“It’s hard to even capture sometimes what he’s done to be able to do that,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “You’re talking about dedication for a long time to his craft, take care of himself. My respect for him is off the charts. I always appreciate longevity statistics like this. ... It’s just a tribute to a career that’s still going. Let’s stop and celebrate it. What a magnificent accomplishment.”
Darvish had a three-run cushion before throwing a pitch Sunday, as his Braves counterpart had to throw 41 of them to get through the top of the first.
The first inning began well enough for Bryce Elder, who retired Luis Arraez and Fernando Tatis Jr. before Jurickson Profar drew a walk and Jake Cronenworth homered.
Elder got a bit unlucky, as Manny Machado followed with an infield single to the left side before Xander Bogaerts and Jackson Merrill followed with hard singles, with Machado scoring on the second of those.
The Padres loaded the bases in the second inning but came away empty and went down in order in the third before beginning the fourth inning with two singles and two doubles and later getting help from a Ronald Acuña error.
Ha-Seong Kim and Arraez began the fourth with singles and both scored on Tatis’ double off the wall in right field. Tatis scored on Profar’s double down the right field line.
That was the end for Elder, after 81 pitches. Former Padres reliever Ray Kerr would have escaped the inning if not for Acuña having a fly ball by Machado go in and out of his glove. That moved Profar to third base, and Bogaerts drove him in with a fly ball to the wall in left-center field.
Kerr ended up pitching a career-high 3⅓ innings. He surrendered a homer to Luis Campusano leading off the fifth inning and a homer in the seventh inning to Kim, who would be his last batter.
The Braves’ lone run came in the ninth off Stephen Kolek.
The Padres moved back to .500 (24-24) heading into Monday’s doubleheader, which was necessitated when rain washed out Saturday’s game.
And they were able to practically cruise through the first of what will be 12 games in 11 days, using just Adrián Morejón and Kolek in relief of Darvish. They will also be able to call up an extra pitcher for today.
“It’s a big outing for Yu for his milestone,” Shildt said, “and a big outing for our team for where we’re at right now.”
