SOUTH BEND – It was the most anticipated pitching performance for the South Bend Cubs this season, and likely one of the bigger ones for the starting pitcher.

Yu Darvish made his rehab assignment Monday night at Four Winds Field. The Chicago Cubs pitching star is working back from a disabled list stint for right triceps tendinitis that shelved the starter on May 23. Darvish, who was also on the DL earlier in the season from the flu, was hoping to get through four innings.The 6’5″ right-hander pitched through five innings and got the no decision in what became a 4-2 South Bend loss to West Michigan.

Yu Darvish made a rehab start Monday night in South Bend, hoping to rejoin with the Chicago Cubs this week. (Photos by Mike Deak)

Darvish eased into his performance, working from the stretch in all five frames. All three outs in the first inning were off batted balls, getting the benefit of a foul ball call off his first pitch that was screamed down the left field line from Whitecaps leadoff batter Brady Policelli. Darvish settled in and gave up just three hits, two of which were for extra bases on a double from Reynaldo Rivera and a homer in the third inning by Joey Morgan. He struck out five batters on 57 pitches, 41 of those for strikes, including a huge 63-mile-per-hour bender that buckled Rivera in his second at-bat.

“Not perfect, but I’m just glad I got through five,” Darvish said through his interpreter following his performance. He noted a rating of 12 out of 10 on his outing simply because he pitched five innings instead of his predicted four. “I want to come back as soon as possible to help the team win but my body has to feel right. I’m not feeling pain but I can’t say nothing is going on.’’

Darvish left the game in the fifth trailing 1-0, but was taken off the hook for the loss when Miguel Amaya doubled in a run to knot the game at one in the bottom of the frame. Amaya gave the Cubs the lead in the seventh with an RBI single, but at 2-1, the South Bend bullpen couldn’t hold the lead.

West Michigan scored three runs in the eighth, started by Jose Azocar’s RBI single to tie the game. Rivera walked, and along with three stolen bases by Azocar and pinch runner Eric De La Rosa, the go-ahead runs came in on a two-out throwing error by Garrett McCain.

Will Vest closed out the game to get the save for the Whitecaps, Felix Viloria getting the win in relief. West Michigan starter Tom de Blok worked six innings of one-run ball in the no decision. Javier Assad was charged with the loss for South Bend.

As for Darvish, he traveled back to Chicago Monday night after the game and will then fly out to Los Angeles Tuesday, where the Cubs are in the midst of a four-game series with the Dodgers, Darvish’s former team. Darvish pitched in nine games with the Dodgers in the second half of last season, helping the team to the World Series where they lost in seven games to the Houston Astros. On Monday, he was the hero, treating both the South Bend and West Michigan clubs to a steak and lobster dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse before the game.

Darvish was the third Cubs player to make a rehab stop at South Bend, where Jason Heyward made two stops in 2017 and Dexter Fowler also made one in 2016.

“Not necessarily pain,” Darvish told reporters. “But I can’t for sure say there’s nothing going on in the triceps. It’s not like anything bad. I feel like everyone who comes off the DL goes through this.”