Padres Announce Wild Card Series Game 1 Starter

The San Diego Padres will turn to their ace for Game 1 of their Wild Card Series against the New York Mets.

Yu Darvish will get the ball for the Padres Friday night in New York. 

As expected, Yu Darvish will start Friday’s Game 1 against the Mets. The starters for Games 2 and 3 are TBD.

— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) October 5, 2022

Darvish has enjoyed a nice bounce-back season, after posting a 4.22 ERA last year. This year, Darvish has registered a 3.10 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and 197 strikeouts over 194 innings. He's made 30 starts and holds a 16-8 record. The 194 innings pitched this season are 15 short of a career-high for Darvish, set back in 2013. 

The thirty-six-year-old is familiar with the New York Mets, having faced them twice already this season. The first came back on June 7, where Darvish threw a seven-inning gem, allowing no runs, two hits and six strikeouts. The Padres crushed the Mets 7-0 that game. 

The second start came on July 22, where Darvish again threw a seven-inning gem, allowing just one run, four hits and one walk while striking out nine. Scherzer was pitching for the Mets in that game, in which the Padres ultimately won 4-1. 

Darvish has enjoyed success against the Mets so far this season, and it will be intriguing to see if the Padres can improve to 3-0 when he pitches against the Mets this season.

It will be Yu Darvish vs Max Scherzer in Game 1 on Friday night at 8:07 PM ET in New York.