San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish delivers against the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLDS on Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Except for the three months he actually played for the team in 2017, Yu Darvish, the Padres’ starter for Game 5, has spent most of his major league career tormenting the Dodgers.
In 15 regular-season starts against them, Darvish has a 2.27 ERA (his second lowest against any team, behind only Philadelphia) and 104 strikeouts in 91⅓ innings. He’s won both of his postseason meetings with the Dodgers, including his seven-inning, one-run gem in Game 2 last weekend.
Though the 38-year-old no longer has the most overpowering stuff, his reputation for being a “crafty” pitcher, as Ohtani put it Thursday, still holds up.
In Game 2, Darvish registered only three strikeouts but limited the Dodgers to three hits with his eight-pitch mix.
“Just being ready to hit,” Roberts said of how the Dodgers can adjust in Game 5. “He doesn’t give in, but when he throws his slider, curveball in the strike zone, or makes a mistake with the fastball, we’ve got to be ready to hit it. I do feel if we can put pressure on him early, that puts us in a good position.”
One notable blemish on Darvish’s résumé: His 0-2 record in winner-take-all postseason games.
In his 2012 rookie season, Darvish was the losing pitcher in the American League wild-card game with the Texas Rangers, despite giving up only three runs (two earned) in 6⅔ innings. And then, of course, there was his infamous Game 7 start for the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series, when he was rocked for five runs (four earned) in less than two innings by the Houston Astros.
Does that memory still haunt Darvish?
“Obviously, I remember about that time,” he said Thursday. “But it’s like, how many years ago was that? So … I don’t go focus on that time, basically. Plus, I am wearing a different uniform right now.”