Yu Darvish dominates Mariners for 8 innings, Padres win 2-0

SEATTLE (AP) — Yu Darvish limited Seattle to two hits over eight innings, Wil Myers provided the primary offensive highlight with an RBI double and the San Diego Padres beat the Mariners 2-0 on Tuesday night.

Padres 2, Mariners 0: Box score

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.

Darvish (14-7) needed just 94 pitches to get through the eight innings. He struck out seven and the only batters to reach base came on Eugenio Suárez’s single in the first inning and Ty France’s base hit leading off the seventh.

In between, Darvish retired 16 straight batters and handed Seattle its first shutout since June 19 when the Mariners were stymied by the Angels and dropped to 29-39. Seattle had scored in 72 straight games.

Darvish also had some good fortune that several hard-hit balls by the Mariners seemed to die on the warning track on a chilly night. Darvish has pitched at least six innings in 25 of 27 starts this season and has struck out at least five batters in 17 straight.

Josh Hader — who entered with a 13.50 ERA in 11 appearances since being traded to San Diego — gave up a two-out single to Julio Rodríguez in the ninth, but struck out Ty France after a 10-pitch at-bat for his third save with the Padres.

Seattle starter Logan Gilbert (12-6) allowed only four hits but he was done after five innings due to an inflated pitch count. Gilbert threw 107 pitches to get through the fifth before turning over to Seattle’s bullpen.

The only damage against Gilbert came in the fourth inning when Jake Cronenworth reached on an infield single and with two outs Myers lined a double into the left field corner. Seattle wasn’t able to make a clean relay and Cronenworth scored without a throw.

Where there's a Wil, there's a way ☝️ #TimeToShine pic.twitter.com/nAGtbONl4i

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 14, 2022

San Diego added a run in the ninth when Juan Soto’s infield groundout scored Austin Nola.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Padres: IF/OF Brandon Drury, who has been on the concussion IL, has been working out at the Padres spring training facility in Peoria, Ariz., and could soon be activated. Drury was hit in the head by a pitch on Sept. 2.

Mariners: RF Mitch Haniger was out of the lineup still dealing with some lower back issues that popped up during Sunday’s win over Atlanta. Haniger received treatment during Monday’s off day, but manager Scott Servais said it wasn’t feeling better to the point of putting him in the lineup. Servais was uncertain if Haniger would be available for Wednesday’s day game with the quick turnaround. … IF/OF Dylan Moore (oblique) will go with the team in the upcoming 10-game road trip, but with no set date on a possible return, Servais said. Moore took batting practice before Tuesday’s game.

Servais Show: Back injury keeps Mitch Haniger on bench

UP NEXT

Padres: RHP Mike Clevinger (5-6, 4.13) will make his first start against a non-NL West team since Aug. 23. Clevinger has only one start of longer than five innings since Aug. 1, a span of seven outings.

Mariners: RHP Luis Castillo (6-5, 2.81) makes his eighth start since being acquired by the Mariners. Castillo set a franchise record by striking out the first seven batters of the game in his last start against Chicago but ended up with a no decision.