Darvish efficient, Myers drives in five, Padres sink Pirates 6-2
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
PNC Park- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The San Diego Padres (8-3) arrived in Pittsburgh fresh off of a sweep of the Texas Rangers. They looked to remain undefeated on their road trip against the Pirates (3-7).
It was Yu Darvish’s turn as the rotation turned back over to the ace atop the group.
Former Padre and native San Diegan Trevor Cahill took the mound for the Pirates. The Friars got to the Vista product in the first inning. After a leadoff single by Jake Cronenworth and a walk to Jurickson Profar, Wil Myers flared a broken-bat single into left to score the game’s first run, giving the Padres a quick 1-0 lead.
In the third inning, the Pirates were able to scratch across a run against Darvish thanks to a double by La Costa Canyon High School alum Phillip Evans.
After that, Darvish gave them absolutely nothing. He was efficient and needed just 64 pitches to get through five innings.
Yu Darvish, Breaking Ball Filth. 😷 pic.twitter.com/QVw39fdpCA
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 13, 2021
Darvish ended up tossing seven innings while just allowing that one run. He didn’t miss as many bats, finishing with six strikeouts, but he was efficient at inducing weak contact. He also had the excellent defense behind him, including a tumbling catch in left field by Jurickson Profar.
After trading zeroes on the scoreboard for two full innings, the Friars broke it open in the top of the sixth. Manny Machado worked a walk ahead of Wil Myers’ two-run homer, which gave San Diego a 3-1 lead, his third of the year.
Tommy Pham broke an 0-for-16 slump with a single and scored on Victor Caratini’s RBI double, pushing the lead to 4-1.
MYERS WITH A 2 RUN HOME RUN🔥#HungryForMore l @Padres l @wilmyers pic.twitter.com/Q6SQVgeDRV
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) April 13, 2021
In the seventh, Profar walked and Machado reached on a single, stole his first base of the year, and scored on Myers’ single along with Profar to boost the lead to 6-1.
That brought Myers’ RBI total for the night to five, tying a career-high.
“I was just executing my plan,” Myers said, “from spring training last year, to the season last year and took it into spring training this year and luckily right now it’s going well for me. (Damion) Easley has done a great job in keeping me there.”
The Pirates managed to get one more run against Austin Adams, who is still working back from a stint on the injured list.
Keone Kela came in for the ninth with a four-run lead and made quick work of the Pirates. He allowed one hit and struck out one and ended the ninth inning in 15 pitches.
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This gives the Padres their fourth win in a row as they continue their undefeated road trip. They play Game 2 of the series Tuesday against Chad Kuhl. The Friars counter with former Cy Young winner Blake Snell.
Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.