TORONTO – Manny Machado’s two-run single was all the San Diego Padres needed for a 2-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Yu Darvish (7-6) struck out seven over six scoreless innings of work, allowing four hits and three walks as San Diego (46-50) earned its second-straight win.
Relievers Steven Wilson, Nick Martinez and Josh Hader preserved Darvish’s win. Hader earned his 23rd save of the season.
The Blue Jays (53-43) inability to score squandered José Berríos’s quality start.
Berríos (8-7) struck out nine and giving up just two runs on four hits and four walks over six innings.
Yimi Garcia, Trevor Richards and Tim Mayza came out of Toronto’s bullpen.
Berríos pitched scoreless ball for the first four innings of the game before the Padres scratched out a couple of runs in the fifth.
Trent Grisham was walked and then Ha-Seong Kim was hit by a pitch to put two runners on. They executed a double steal to move into scoring position so Berríos intentionally walked slugger Juan Soto to set up a forced out at every base with two outs.
But Machado hit a broken-bat single into left field to push Grisham and Kim across the plate and move Soto to third. Berríos struck out Xander Bogaerts to end the frame but San Diego had established a 2-0 lead.
Toronto outfielder George Springer got a loud ovation from the sold-out crowd of 42,948 at Rogers Centre after he made a leaping grab on a fly out off the bat of Jake Cronenworth in the sixth.
Back-to-back singles from Bo Bichette and Brandon Belt to lead off the eighth inning gave the Blue Jays some hope of mounting a comeback. But consecutive popouts from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Matt Chapman coupled with a Whit Merrifield strikeout ended the threat.
ROSTER MOVES — Outfielder Jordan Luplow was selected to the Blue Jays’ roster hours before Wednesday night’s game. Outfielder Nathan Lukes was optioned to Toronto’s triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, N.Y., in a corresponding move. Right-handed sidearmer Adam Cimber was transferred to the 60-day injured list as he continues to rehab a shoulder impingement in his throwing arm.
ON DECK — Chris Bassitt (9-5) will get the start as Toronto finishes its interleague series against San Diego with an early-afternoon matinee.
Blake Snell (6-7) will take the mound for the Padres.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2023.
