Darvish deals, Machado-less Padres beat Diamondbacks 4-1

Darvish flirted with trouble before righting himself and throwing seven strong innings, and Jake Cronenworth and Trent Grisham homered to lead the San Diego Padres to a 4-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.

Kim Ha-seong hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the second for the Padres, who lost Machado, their All-Star slugger, to a sprained ankle Sunday.

“It means a lot to the team. After losing Manny you obviously want to come out strong,” Darvish said through an interpreter. “I think we were able to do that,”

Darvish (7-3) struggled through a 33-pitch first inning but got out of a bases-loaded jam after allowing just one run and then settled down to win his third straight start. He held the Diamondbacks to one run and four hits, struck out five and walked two.

Darvish allowed the first two batters to reach and then gave up Christian Walker’s one-out sacrifice fly. He loaded the bases on a walk and a hit batter before striking out Buddy Kennedy to end the threat.

“That’s a true definition of an ace,” acting manager Ryan Flaherty said. “They had him on the ropes and it took him a little bit to find the release point and after that it was smooth sailing.”

Darvish had a little bit of trouble in the third when he allowed a leadoff double to Alek Thomas and then hit Walker with a pitch with one out. He then retired the next nine batters.

“I just think he’s at an age in his life he can find it mid-inning even with so much chaos going on on the base paths,” Flaherty said. “Like I said, that’s the definition of an ace.”

The 35-year-old Darvish said his body was “feeling a bit heavy” after being in Denver for three days.

“Obviously I couldn’t really find the zone in the first inning, but I really wanted to go long and I was trying to induce early contact after that,” he said. “Fortunately, that worked.”

Taylor Rogers pitched a perfect ninth for his 21st save.

Zach Davies (2-4), who pitched for the Padres in 2020, lost his third straight decision over seven starts after allowing four runs and four hits in six innings. He hasn’t won since May 13, against the Chicago Cubs.

Cronenworth continued his hot June by homering to right field with two outs in the first to tie the game at 1. It was his seventh and extended his hitting streak to eight games.

Kim singled with two outs in the second to give the Padres a 3-1 lead, and Grisham homered to center leading off the fifth, his sixth of the season.

Diamondbacks: LF David Peralta was scratched with lower back tightness and replaced by Jordan Luplow.

Padres: Flaherty said the Padres are optimistic Machado won’t need to go on the injured list. … Bench coach Ryan Christenson was cleared from COVID protocols just before first pitch. Manager Bob Melvin remained in the protocols.

Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gellen (4-2, 2.91) and Padres LHP Sean Manaea (3-3, 3.95) are scheduled to start Tuesday night in the middle game of the series.

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