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San Diego Padres Righty Does Something Not Seen in Last Decade of History in Game 2

The San Diego Padres defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night as right-hander Yu Darvish made some special baseball history.

Brady Farkas

San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish (11) pitches in the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game two of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium on Oct 6.
San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish (11) pitches in the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game two of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium on Oct 6. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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The San Diego Padres evened up the best-of-five National League Division Series on Sunday night, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers by a score of 10-2.

The Padres got late home runs from Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts to help put the game out of reach, and they got a dominant start on the mound from veteran right-hander Yu Darvish.

Darvish went 7.0 innings on the mound, surrendering one run on just three hits. He walked two and struck out three while throwing an economical 82 pitches.

His performance was massive for several reasons. The obvious, is that it led to a Padres win. However, it also limited the use of the bullpen, which is key. Furthermore, it helped pick up a rotation that no longer has Joe Musgrove, who needs Tommy John surgery as of last week.

According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Darvish also did something we haven't seen in the last decade of baseball history.

at 38 years & 51 days, Yu Darvish is the oldest pitcher to go 7+ IP & allow 1 or 0 runs in a postseason game since Tim Hudson in 2014 NLDS G2 (39y, 82d)

One of the better pitchers in baseball since coming over to the United States in 2012, Darvish went 4-6 this regular season with a 3.88 ERA. He made only 12 starts because of a lengthy absence related to a personal issue.

Lifetime, he's gone 110-88 in the regular season with a 3.58 ERA. He's pitched for the Texas Rangers, Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and Padres.

Game 3 will be in San Diego on Tuesday night.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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