Darvish deals, Padres’ two-out hitting seals sweep of Mets

SAN DIEGO – Four early runs loomed like a mountain thanks to a classic pitching performance by Yu Darvish as the San Diego Padres swept the New York Mets with a 5-0 win on Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park.

Darvish kept batters off balance all afternoon to earn his first win of the year, which made him the winningest Japanese-born pitcher in Majors history with 204 career wins over 20 seasons between Nippon Professional Baseball and MLB.

"It means a lot, I'm very happy. You're talking about legends like Hideo Nomo, Hiroki Kuroda and just to be able to get closer to these legends means a lot and I'm very happy about that," Darvish said.

The San Diego starter threw a seven-inning gem, striking out seven without a walk and allowing a pair of hits, while Manny Machado continued his hot streak with a pair of hits and two RBIs, and Gavin Sheets added a two-run home run. Four of the Padres (60-49) runs and six of their nine hits came with two outs.

Darvish used six different pitches nine or more times, with 54 of 76 total in the zone over his longest start since the 2024 postseason. His splitter was particularly effective, getting swing-and-misses on six of the 13 times he threw it and notching three strikeouts with it. Overall the Mets (62-47) whiffed on 38% of the offerings.

"He was terrific, changing speeds, (had) his fastball where he wanted it, just an artist out there with his paintbrush," said manager Mike Shildt. "Efficiency is the key word, the ability to be consistent with his pitches, when he does that he's going to do exactly what he did today. He was through seven, not a lot of stress and low pitch counts every inning, so it was tremendous and really good timing, we've been going at it pretty hard with the bullpen."

Darvish retired 13 straight following Mark Vientos’ one-out single in the first until Ronny Mauricio’s two-out knock in the fifth. The Vientos at-bat was the only time he threw three balls to a batter all game.

Getting a hot start from the offense provided plenty of cushion.

Despite coming up empty with the bases loaded in the first, Martín Maldonado started a two-out rally in the second with a single that followed with Mets starter Clay Holmes hitting Fernando Tatis Jr. with a pitch and walking Luis Arraez. Machado then slashed an inside sinker to left field for a two-RBI single to give the Padres the early lead.

"It's really fun to see superstars when they're hot, and you see the way Luis, Tatis and Manny are right now, the way Manny is swinging right now is incredible and we feed off those guys," Sheets said. "They go out and do it every single day, they come out and they have that extra spark and we feed off that as a line, and it's fun to watch up close."

Maldonado, who finished with a pair of hits and a run scored, has hits in seven of his last nine appearances. He and fellow catcher Elías Diaz have combined to go 12-for-37 (.324 average) over the past 10 games.

"It's a little bit of an added bonus because they've done such a good job behind the plate...shepherding and working with our pitchers, but their ability to contribute offensively clearly is an asset to the club," Shildt said.

In a series that has seen its share of slick leatherwork defensively by the Brown and Gold, Jake Cronenworth added to the highlight reel with a diving catch in shallow right field to rob Tyrone Taylor of a hit in the third.

"I've been playing this game for 21 years and when the ball comes off the bat you know if it's going to be a hit or not, and in my mind I thought that was going to be a hit but he made that great catch. Just a phenomenal play," Darvish said.

Then in the home half the Padres took advantage of a two-out throwing error by Francisco Lindor when his throw to first was short and pulled Pete Alonzo off the bag. Sheets, hitting in the eight spot for the first time since Opening Day, crushed a sweeper to right center field for a two-run home run for his career-high-tying 15th of the season.

Jackson Merrill added a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, giving him RBIs in three of his last four games.

Jason Adam sat the Mets down in order in the eighth with a pair of strikeouts, and Robert Suarez got the final three outs with a hit allowed and a strikeout.

Arraez extended his hitting streak to a season-long 13 games with a first inning single and finished with a pair of knocks.

The Mets only got 3 ⅔ innings from Holmes, who allowed eight hits and four runs (two earned) while walking two and striking out three to take his sixth loss. Padres hitters worked five free passes overall against the five pitchers New York used.

San Diego stretched their winning streak to five games, their most since a six-game run from April 29 through May 5 and tied for third-longest of the season.

"I thought that was one of our best series of the year, not just because it was such a good team that we played but finishing a 13 game stretch right out of the (All-Star break) where you go East Coast trip...being home was great for all of us and we felt great being back here," Sheets said. "We fed off the energy of the crowd and this offense has been rolling, and obviously we're throwing the ball extremely well which is nothing new, but to match that with our offense was really nice."

Thursday will be the Padres first off day since the All-Star break, ending a stretch of 13 consecutive days with games. They have one more stretch of 13-straight from August 15-27,  but otherwise will not go more than nine days without a break for the remainder of the season.

The six-game homestand will close a three game set against St. Louis. Nick Pivetta (10-3, 2.81 ERA) is slated to get the ball for San Diego, while the Cardinals have yet to name a starter for the game on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. at Petco Park.

This story was updated at 5:20 p.m.