Yu Darvish tapped the “PS” patch on his uniform and then focused on his performance.
Despite his best efforts, Darvish’s strong outing in memory of the late San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler wasn’t enough to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.
With the Padres’ offense struggling, the Dodgers secured a 2-0 win in the deciding Game 5 of their NL Division Series. Just a week after it seemed like San Diego was heading to the next round, the Padres were now going home to reflect on what went wrong and to plan for next season.
“Obviously, it’s a big game and you’re given the ball to pitch in these big games and for me it was about wanting to do this for Peter Seidler,” Darvish said through an interpreter after allowing two home runs among the three hits he gave up in 6 2/3 innings.
“Unfortunately, the game went on as it did so there is some disappointment there.”
Seidler, who passed away in November at age 63, would have been proud. However, the atmosphere in the Padres’ clubhouse after their final game was filled with feelings of unfulfillment for what could have been.
After a disappointing 2023, the Padres traded Juan Soto to the New York Yankees and chose not to re-sign NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell. However, they improved significantly with right-hander Dylan Cease, who joined them from the Chicago White Sox.
Rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill adapted well with the offensive-focused Padres, and Jurickson Profar had his best season in his 11 years in the majors. Fernando Tatis Jr., who missed all of 2022 due to a wrist injury and a PED suspension, returned to All-Star form this year.
The Padres even managed to beat the Dodgers to win the season series but couldn’t complete the NLDS, losing the last two games. San Diego went scoreless for the final 24 innings.
“We didn’t hit and score some runs,” slugger Manny Machado said. “They did a tremendous job on the other side, on the pitching side. You have to give credit where it’s due. We just couldn’t string along hits. We had some opportunities, we couldn’t push through and we fell short.”
