Padres pregame: Looking to get Yu Darvish on track, shave magic number

by Jeff Sanders

The Padres’ first day in Chicago did absolutely nothing to improve their playoff standing.

The Padres lost on Friday and so did the Diamondbacks and Giants. But the Dodgers, Mets and Mets all won, meaning the Padres will have to wait until at least Sunday to clinch a postseason spot and they’ll need help, too.

But the equation begins with Padres winning two games and that starts with Yu Darvish putting a good foot forward in Saturday’s 4:10 p.m. start at Rate Field on Padres.TV.

Things have not got especially well for Darvish of late.

The 39-year-old veteran has allowed at least three runs in his last four starts (6.27 ERA) and has just three quality starts in 13 starts since returning from his elbow injury. Darvish has topped out at 91 pitches. He has a 3.48 ERA in eight career starts against the White Sox. He last faced them in in 2024 (6⅓ IP, 2 ER) in a no-decision.

Here is how Darvish has fared against current White Sox:

White Sox right-hander Yoendrys Gomez (3-2, 4.91 ERA) has a 6.62 ERA in 17⅔ innings as a reliever and a 4.01 ERA in seven starts this year (33⅔ IP), all since returning to the majors in mid-August. Gomez has allowed seven homers in 51⅓ innings and has a 49-to-27 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He struck out the side in his only career appearance against the Padres last year.

Only two Padres have history with Gomez:

OF Ramón Laureano (1-for-3, 2B)
INF Jose Iglesias (0-for-1)

Beyond the two wins that the Padres need to log themselves, the help they need to clinch by Sunday includes two Reds losses and a Diamondbacks loss on Saturday or Sunday.

The Padres are four games behind the Dodgers in the NL West with eight games left in the season and five games behind the Cubs in the race for the NL’s top wild-card spot.

ESPN says their playoff odds are 99.6% heading into Saturday, largely because they have a three-game lead on the Mets as the No. 5 wild-card team and a five-game lead on the Reds, the team closest to knock them out of playoff contention.

The Padres have still lost 15 of their last 24 games and have eight losses in their last 14 games against losing teams.

Here are the Saturday’s lineups for the Padres, who will start Jake Cronenworth at shortstop, and the White Sox, who snapped a six-game losing streak on Friday: