Yu Darvish returns as Padres beat Tigers in extras

SAN DIEGO — Fifty minutes before first pitch Wednesday night, Yu Darvish emerged from the Padres dugout to begin his pregame throwing routine. The stadium wasn’t yet a quarter full, but it didn’t matter. “Yuuuuuuuuuu” echoed throughout Petco Park.

At long last, Darvish made his Padres return in their 6-5 victory over the Tigers. He lasted only 2 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on four hits. But his teammates picked him up, rallying from a five-run deficit to win the game in the 10th on Fernando Tatis Jr.’s walk-off single.

Plus, having Yu Darvish on the mound was a victory in its own right.

“These are the best fans,” Darvish said through interpreter Shingo Horie. “Just to be able to put on a Padres uniform and go out there, pitch on that mound, that’s a blessing in itself. I can say, it’s just great being a Padre.”

There was a time when the Padres weren’t certain Darvish would take the mound again this season. He landed on the injured list in late May, then was placed on the restricted list in early July while he tended to a private family matter.

Throughout his time away from the team, the Padres refused to speculate on a potential return for their veteran right-hander. They only offered love for Darvish and said little else.

Then, two weeks ago, Darvish called general manager A.J. Preller to inform him he was ready to rejoin the team. A day later, Darvish was reinstated. From there, his return to the big league club happened at warp speed.

Darvish revealed he’d faced local college hitters a couple times before he was reinstated, and that he’d even gotten up and down for two simulated innings. He pitched three sim innings at Petco Park shortly after re-joining the team, then four at the team’s spring complex on Friday.

Rather than have Darvish pitch a rehab outing, the Padres activated him to start Wednesday’s game. They knew he wasn’t fully built up. But they had an expanded bullpen to work with.

So Darvish got the start, and he briefly looked like vintage Yu Darvish. He threw Tigers leadoff man Parker Meadows four hard pitches — two fastballs and two tight sliders. Meadows was off-balance for a 2-2 curveball and popped it up. Darvish then struck out Riley Greene.

But after a 10-pitch battle with Greene, Darvish’s outing spiraled. Matt Vierling homered with two outs. The Tigers tacked on a run in the second and third. Most notably, they worked deep counts. Darvish threw 26 pitches in the first and 21 in the second.

The Padres have big plans for Darvish over the next month or two. There was no need to push him any further in his first game back.

“Stuff was great,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt. “He was 95 [mph] coming out easy, secondary pitches looked like they were there. As you can expect, first time back in a big league game, there can be a little bit of just-missing.

“I thought the ball came out well. He said he felt good, arm felt good, body felt good. He just knocked a little bit of the proverbial rust off.”

Darvish’s return gives the Padres rotation a clear boost. That rotation features Dylan Cease and Joe Musgrove at the top, but had question marks about its depth not all that long ago.

If Darvish can begin to look like his old self, he’ll be in the mix as the team’s No. 3 starter in a potential postseason rotation. (Might not be a coincidence that the Padres inserted him behind Cease and Musgrove).

If all goes well, he’ll have four more starts this season to find a rhythm.

“I think there was a lot of adrenaline going into this game, maybe trying to do too much,” Darvish said.

For now, the Padres were content to see him back on the Petco Park mound at all.