Yu Darvish combined with the bullpen to give the Padres a series win in Philadelphia Thursday thanks to a 2-0 shutout.
Darvish went seven innings, giving up six hits and striking out five as he improved to 4-1. Luis Garcia followed with 2/3 of an inning before Taylor Rogers took over and logged his 15th save on the season. The closer leads the majors in saves.
The Friars got all the runs they needed in the fourth inning after Jurickson Profar and Wil Myers started the rally with singles.
New addition Robinson Cano – signed last week after his release by the New York Mets – drove in Profar with a single of his own, and after a Luke Voit strikeout, Myers scored on a Ha-Seong Kim sacrifice fly.
Acting manager Ryan Christenson noted that the Padres continue to put up “just enough offense.”
“That’s a key to how well the pitchers have thrown,” he told Bally Sports San Diego.
He also said it was not yet clear if manager Bob Melvin would make his return in San Francisco, as hoped, following his recent surgery.
Each of the games in Philadelphia ended in a shutout. The Padres took the opener 3-0, while the Phillies won by the same score Wednesday.
The second-place Padres head back to California to close the road trip, in a clash with the Giants, in third place in the National League West.
Former Oakland A Sean Manaea takes the mound Friday in his return to the Bay Area. Joe Musgrove follows, with Sunday’s starter listed as TBD.