CINCINNATI _ Yu Darvish merely laughed when his glove fell off while he delivered a pitch to the Cincinnati Reds' Freddy Galvis in the fourth inning Saturday at Great American Ball Park.
But it was no laughing matter when Joey Votto and Nicholas Castellanos hit consecutive singles to start the fifth with Darvish trying to protect a two-run Chicago Cubs lead.
Darvish kept his composure and had enough command to strike out Jesse Winkler on a 98-mph fastball and Eugenio Suarez on a slider before inducing Galvis to hit a soft grounder with the bases loaded to end the threat and steer the Cubs to a 3-0 victory in the first game of a doubleheader in Cincinnati.
This wasn't Darvish's best outing as a Cub _ he allowed seven hits while striking out eight and walking two on 104 pitches in six innings _ but it held plenty of significance. Darvish (6-1) helped the Cubs snap a three-game losing streak, marking the third time this season he won a game following a Cubs loss.
Darvish also outdueled Trevor Bauer, who entered Saturday's game with a career 4-0 record and 0.68 ERA against the Cubs.
Darvish received some help from Anthony Rizzo, one of the few Cubs who has held his own against Bauer. Rizzo hit a pair of home runs and is now 6 for 13 lifetime against him.
Darvish continues to carry the Cubs rotation. He is 6-0 with a 0.92 ERA in his last six starts, while his season ERA dipped to 1.47, second to the Atlanta Braves' Max Fried at 1.35.
Since the second half of 2019, Darvish has a 2.31 ERA in 20 starts with 15 walks and 170 strikeouts. He also allowed two walks or fewer for his 25th consecutive start.
Darvish tied his career-high six-game winning streak set with the Rangers from Aug. 28, 2012-April 7, 2013. He has struck out 35 in his last four starts.
The Reds put a runner in scoring position in the second through fifth innings, but Darvish held the Reds hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Darvish finished his outing with a called third strike of Tucker Barnhart on a 97-mph fastball. Jeremy Jeffress came on in the seventh and picked up his fourth save.
The Cubs offense didn't pound Bauer but revived their early-season formula of working deep counts and delivering timely hits.
Ian Happ set the tone with a nine-pitch at-bat to start the game before grounding out. Kyle Schwarber worked Bauer for a walk to start the second before scoring on a fielder's choice.
But Rizzo's homers gave Darvish and the Cubs the necessary breathing room.
In the third, Rizzo fouled off five pitches after falling behind 0-2, and then golfed a sinker well below his knees into the right-field seats.
Reds manager David Bell let Bauer start the sixth despite having already thrown 100 pitches. Rizzo ripped a slider on a 1-2 pitch deep into the right-field seats for his 18th career multi-homer game.
