Yu Darvish tosses 6 scoreless innings vs. Rangers

SAN DIEGO -- Whatever path the Padres were going to chart at the Trade Deadline, this much has seemed clear for a while: They were going to take their time.

Either direction -- buying or selling -- comes with serious implications for the franchise in 2023 and beyond. There was no reason to rush things. The Padres wanted to gather as much information as possible before they committed, one way or another.

So while trade season kicked off in earnest several days ago, the Padres have, thus far, remained idle. In the meantime, a weekend series against the first-place Rangers offered one final chance for the team to stake its claim as buyers before the Deadline on Tuesday.

Two games won’t outweigh the previous 103. But the Padres are making a statement. For a second straight night, San Diego dispatched Texas, this time a 4-0 victory Saturday at Petco Park. After dropping two of three to the Pirates earlier this week, it’s been quite a response against the AL West leaders.

“As hard as some of these [losses] have been, some of these series have been, we’ve always responded,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “Now, we haven’t responded with a huge winning streak. But we’ve always put those in the rearview mirror, come out with the odds against us, with some momentum against us, and put together some good games.”

Like these past two. Yu Darvish pitched six scoreless innings (a night after Joe Musgrove did the same). Ha-Seong Kim and Luis Campusano both had a pair of hits. Again, the Padres looked like the playoff contender they still believe themselves to be.

And yet, their reality isn’t so rosy. Sure, the Padres have played like contenders occasionally. They haven’t done it nearly enough. With two games to play before the Trade Deadline, they find themselves three games below .500 and 5 1/2 games back in the National League Wild Card race, needing to jump three teams for a playoff spot.

That’s not exactly the plight of a traditional buyer. But the 2023 Padres are anything but traditional.

“I don’t think those areas are something that I say anything about,” Kim said. “All I can do is just go out there and do my job, help the team to win the ballgame. It goes the same for all the boys in the clubhouse. I trust in the coaching staff and the front office will make good decisions for the organization. … All we can do is go out there, play hard, win ballgames.”

Kim did his part Saturday. So did Darvish, who was excellent across six innings, bouncing back from a rough outing on Monday night against the Pirates. He struck out nine and allowed three hits, while walking two. Those two walks happened to be the first two hitters he faced, and the veteran right-hander found himself on the ropes early.

“Pregame bullpen was pretty good,” Darvish said. “Obviously, I gave up a walk to the first two hitters. But I knew that I had the stuff today and the confidence was there. So I just let it go.”

Darvish pitched his way out of trouble in the first and then did the same in the second. From there, he locked it down, allowing only one baserunner across his final four innings. 

Saturday marked only the second time in his career that Darvish faced the Rangers, his first big league team. He was roughed up the first time he faced them, as a Cub in 2019.

“My goal for today was … just to go into the game and have fun, be myself and pitch a good game,” Darvish said. “That was my main focus. I didn’t really have time to think about who the opponent was.”

The Padres gave Darvish all the offense he would need in the bottom of the second. Campusano singled home the game’s first run. Gary Sánchez followed with an RBI walk. Two batters later, Kim doubled the lead with a two-run single, and the Padres led, 4-0.

And that was that. Rangers starter Martín Pérez held the Padres in check after the second. But he was outdone by his former teammate. Darvish and Pérez each debuted with the 2012 Rangers.

Pérez will soon be gaining a new rotation mate. On Saturday, the Rangers agreed to a deal to acquire Max Scherzer in the Deadline’s first true blockbuster, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The Mets, only 1 1/2 games behind the Padres, have announced themselves as sellers. The Rangers have announced themselves as buyers.

The wait-and-see Padres? It’ll be decision time soon enough.