Let's appreciate Yu Darvish

The San Diego Padres notched a 2-0 win over the Seattle Mariners, and they did it on the back of their ace pitcher.

For one night, it was okay that the San Diego Padres offense didn’t show up. That’s because, as has been the case for a while now, Yu Darvish is pitching brilliantly. Oh, and Josh Hader looks like Josh Hader again.

I wrote about Darvish a little bit last week. He’s having the best season of his career since 2013. That’s hard to do! You don’t often hear about guys, in their late 30s, having the best season of their career (or at least since their mid 20s).

He also has one of my favorite splits going, I never get to use this, so allow me to show that to you now:

• Before taking paternity leave: 10-7, 148.2 IP, 3.39 ERA, .602 OPS against

• After taking paternity leave: 4-0, 28.0 IP, 1.93 ERA, .502 OPS against

Coincidental timing? Probably. Darvish has been lights out since before becoming a father (again). But it’s still a fun thing to track.

Anyway, Farid Yu Darvishsefat was absolutely brilliant in Seattle in a game that the Padres needed to win. Over 8 innings, he gave up 2 hits while striking out 7 and walking zero Mariners. And he did it on a night when the offense needed the help.

Darvish was so good that there was a question on whether Bob Melvin should leave him in for the 9th or bring in from the bullpen one of the most dominant closers in the history of baseball.

The Brewers, who are chasing the Padres, have won three games in a row. The Phillies, who the Padres are chasing, have won four games in a row. Before last night, the Padres had lost two in a row and needed to avoid the usual down performance after losing to the Dodgers. They pulled it off, but just barely, and almost entirely because of Darvish’s brilliance.