Darvish sharp for 7 innings, Sheets homers and the Padres beat the Mets 5-0 for 3-game sweep

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Yu Darvish pitched seven impressive innings for his first win of the season, Gavin Sheets hit a two-run homer and the San Diego Padres beat the NL East-leading New York Mets 5-0 on Wednesday for a three-game sweep.

Manny Machado added a two-run, bases-loaded single for the Padres, who won their fifth straight game as they continue to chase the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

Slugger Juan Soto was out of the lineup for the Mets a day after fouling a ball off the top of his left foot.

Darvish (1-3), who turns 39 on Aug. 16, held the Mets to two hits, struck out seven and walked none in his fifth start. After allowing Mark Vientos' single with one out in the first, Darvish retired the next 13 batters. He had been sidelined by right elbow inflammation from mid-March until making his season debut on July 7.

Darvish got a nice ovation as he headed to the dugout after pitching a perfect seventh in what became the Padres' big league-high 15th shutout.

It was Darvish's 111th big league win, which, combined with his 93 in Japan, allowed him to break out of a tie with Hiroki Kuroda and take sole possession of first place on the combined all-time list.

Sheets' homer off Clay Holmes (9-6) came after Jose Iglesias reached on shortstop Francisco Lindor's throwing error with two outs in the third. Sheets then drove an 0-2 pitch an estimated 427 feet to right-center, his 15th.

Holmes retired the first two batters in the second before allowing a single by Martin Maldonado, hitting Fernando Tatis Jr. on the top of the left hand with a pitch and walking Luis Arraez. Machado then singled to left for a 2-0 lead.

Machado hit a three-run homer in a 7-1 win on Tuesday night.

Holmes lasted only 3 2/3 innings, allowing four runs — two earned — and eight hits. The Mets were swept in a series of three or more games at San Diego for the first time since 2008.

Sheets' homer gave Darvish some breathing room.

It was the 10th time in Darvish's 14-year career that he pitched seven-plus innings while allowing no runs and two or fewer hits.

Mets LHP David Peterson (7-4, 2.83 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday night in the opener of a three-game home series against San Francisco. The Padres haven't named a starter for Friday night's opener of a three-game home series against St. Louis.

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New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez reacts after taking a foul ball off his mask hit by San Diego Padres' Martin Maldonado in the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)

San Diego Padres' Gavin Sheets points towards his dugout after hitting a two-run home run against the New York Mets in the third inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)

San Diego Padres' Yu Darvish works against the New York Mets in the sixth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)

San Diego Padres' Yu Darvish reacts after striking out New York Mets' Mark Vientos to end the sixth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)