Yu Darvish threw seven innings of one-run ball with 12 strikeouts but his San Diego Padres lost to the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0 on Sunday.
Darvish (0-2) allowed a sacrifice fly to Brian Anderson in the second inning after Garrett Mitchell had a one-out bunt single, moved to second base on a Darvish disengagement violation and stole third.
The veteran right-hander lost count of his disengagements and was cited for a balk which advanced Mitchell to second at Petco Park in San Diego.
Darvish allowed four hits and walked two in a 100-pitch outing, striking out 12 for the first time since Aug. 7, 2021, when he did it against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"The most important thing for me is to give my team a chance to win," Darvish said, explaining that wins and losses depend on run support.
"I could be the winning pitcher (today), so I don't really care about that (as long as I get my job done)."
Brewers left-hander Wade Miley (2-1) went seven innings and combined with two relievers on a five-hit shutout.
At Fenway Park, Boston Red Sox rookie outfielder Masataka Yoshida went hitless in two at-bats with a hit-by-pitch in a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
Yoshida returned to the lineup after missing the previous four games with hamstring tightness. Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani had his on-base streak snapped at 36 games, going hitless in four at-bats.
Justin Turner hit a two-run homer for the Red Sox in the third inning off Reid Detmers.