Yu Darvish threw five shutout innings on three hits to earn his first win of the season Tuesday as the San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-4.
A solid 70-pitch outing with three strikeouts and no walks sees Darvish (1-1) move within three wins of 200 for his career across Japan and the United States.
The 37-year-old, who returned from the 15-day injured list after recovering from a neck strain, had runners on the corners with two outs in the third but retired Elly De La Cruz. The right-hander, making his sixth start of the season, was hooked with his team leading 5-0 at Petco Park.
Adrian Morejon gave up two runs in the sixth and Enyel De Los Santos two more in the seventh before Yuki Matsui took the mound with one out in the inning. The southpaw worked perfect 1-2/3 innings, striking out two, to help his compatriot Darvish get the win.
Roberto Suarez, formerly of the SoftBank Hawks and Hanshin Tigers in Japan, threw a 1-2-3 ninth for his 10th save as the Padres snapped their five-game skid.
