Padres' confidence in Yu Darvish for Game 5 is sorely misplaced given his history

Well, Mike Shildt went for the knockout blow on Wednesday night but didn't put his guard up. The San Diego Padres skipper decided to send Dylan Cease to the hill for Game 4 despite the fact the right-hander would be operating on short rest. Cease had just three days off and had never pitched on short rest before. The results were, well, about what you might expect.

Cease was lifted after 1 2/3 innings. He allowed three runs on four hits, including a first inning tone-setting home run off the bat of Mookie Betts. An RBI single courtesy of Shohei Ohtani brought Shildt out of the dugout with two out and two on the second inning.

Cease's replacement, Bryan Hoeing, was unable to get out the jam. After two innings, the Los Angeles Dodgers led 3-0. San Diego couldn't hit a lick off LA's cadre of relievers and lost 8-0. Now the series heads back to Dodger Stadium for a winner-take-all Game 5.

Padres' confidence in Yu Darvish is sorely misplaced given his track record

The Padres will send Yu Darvish to the hill on full rest. After watching Darvish carve up the Dodgers' lineup during Game 2, it's understandable that his teammates have all the confidence in the world that the veteran will show up ready to dominate once again. But that confidence might be sorely misplaced.

This isn't Darvish's first rodeo. The 38-year-old has been on the bump four times during an elimination game; two of those were winner-take-all. Unfortunately, Darvish's teams lost all four times. In fact, the last time Darvish stepped on the hill in this type of scenario came during the 2017 World Series when he was a member of the Dodgers' starting rotation.

Darvish took the ball for Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros and it's doubtful that things could have gone worse. Darvish, much like Cease on Wednesday night, couldn't get out of the second inning. He went just 1 2/3 and allowed five runs on three hits, including a two-run homer off the bat of George Springer.

Thankfully, the day off in between Games 4 and 5 will give the Friars bullpen a chance to grab their breath. Shildt will have his full staff of relievers, and left-hander Martín Perez, in the event that Darvish gets in trouble early.

Game 5 between the Padres and Dodgers will be for the all the marbles. It'll be Darvish versus Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and the Friar faithful are hoping their starter is on the winning side for once.

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