Yu Darvish earned his second win of the postseason despite surrendering home runs in each of the first three innings as the San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 in Game 2 of their National League Division Series on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old right-hander received plenty of help from the bullpen and a potent Padres offense, with Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth homering and driving in two runs apiece to knot the series 1-1 at Dodger Stadium.
In five-plus innings, Darvish (2-0) fanned seven while allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks. Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw lasted five innings in which he gave up three runs on six hits, while striking out six.
"All of the home runs were solos, so there's no need to be too negative," Darvish said. "It's the playoffs, so all I'm thinking about is the team winning in the end."
Machado gave the Padres a 1-0 lead with his home run in the first before Freddie Freeman tied it for the Dodgers with his two-out solo blast in the bottom of the inning.
The Dodgers went up 2-1 in the second when Max Muncy sent Darvish's 2-2 slider over the fence behind center field. Machado's RBI double and Cronenworth's RBI groundout made it 3-2 for the Padres in the top of the third, but Trea Turner tied in the bottom half with a solo off his first pitch from Darvish.
Jurickson Profar drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth, scoring Cronenworth with a groundball single off reliever Brusdar Graterol (0-1).
Former Hanshin Tigers and SoftBank Hawks reliever Robert Suarez pitched the Padres out of trouble in the bottom of the inning after replacing Darvish with none out and runners on first and third. The Venezuelan right-hander struck out Justin Turner, then got Gavin Lux to ground into a double play.
Suarez, 31, joined the Padres this season after his Nippon Professional Baseball stint between 2016 and 2021 that included multiple Japan Series titles with the Hawks and a 2021 Central League All-Star selection for the Tigers.
Cronenworth extended the lead in the eighth with his solo bomb deep to right off Blake Treinen.
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