LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rich Hill took a no-hitter into the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium. Thirty-eight miles away, Clayton Kershaw was looking dominant in his first minor league rehab start.
The Dodgers’ rotation might suddenly be off life support.
Hill pitched six strong innings, Yasmani Grandal hit a three-run homer and Los Angeles beat the San Diego Padres 5-1 Saturday night. The NL West-leading Dodgers stayed two games in front of San Francisco, which edged the Cubs 3-2 earlier in the day.
“It’s just very encouraging,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
He was talking about Hill, but he could have said the same about Kershaw.
The Dodgers ace tossed three innings at Class A Rancho Cucamonga, allowing only an infield single, with five strikeouts and no walks. The left-hander threw 23 pitches and finished with another 11 in the
bullpen. Afterward, Kershaw said he would be pitching for the Dodgers in four days.
Roberts demurred on that one, but Kershaw certainly appears ready to rejoin his team after being sidelined for over two months with a herniated disk in his back.
Hill (11-3) allowed one hit, struck out eight and walked two in his second start since the Dodgers acquired him from Oakland at the Aug. 1 trade deadline. The left-hander was scratched at Colorado last week due to a combination of weather and a finger blister.
“The biggest thing was staying in the moment,” he said, “and focusing on each pitch and having it come out of your hand the way you wanted it.”
Hill remains unbeaten in his last 10 starts since May 7 with a career-best eight-game winning streak, going 8-0 in that span with a 1.61 ERA.
“There’s passion and conviction behind every pitch,” Padres manager Andy Green said. “He’s attacking, and you can feel that on the other side. His curveball is one of the most effective pitches in the game. We really don’t match up well with that pitch. He drops it in the zone on 2-0 counts. Those types of things are almost unfair at times.”
Kenley Jansen struck out the side in the ninth for his 41st save in 47 chances.
Luis Perdomo (7-8) allowed five runs and nine hits in six innings, struck out five and walked none. The right-hander tossed a complete game against Miami in his previous start. He came into the game owning a 60 percent ground-ball rate, tops in the National League among pitchers with at least 100 innings.
The Dodgers undid that in a hurry in the fourth.
They needed just seven pitches in their first four at-bats to break open the scoreless game. Corey Seager singled on the first pitch, Justin Turner singled on a 1-2 offering and Adrian Gonzalez singled on the first pitch, scoring Seager. Grandal came up next and hit his career-high 22nd homer on the first pitch, extending the lead to 4-0.
Perdomo had given up just one earned run in 16 innings in his two previous starts.
Josh Reddick made it 5-0 in the sixth with his first homer in his 27th game for the Dodgers since being acquired in the Hill deal last month.
The Padres’ lone run came on Wil Myers’ single in the eighth for his team-leading 76th RBI.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: RHP Tyson Ross played long toss in a pregame workout. The Padres hope to get him on a mound soon to progress him to pitch an inning at some point. They have no plans to start Ross.
Dodgers: X-rays on the index and middle fingers of LHP Julio Urias’ left hand were negative. Roberts said the team won’t shut down the 20-year-old rookie because of an innings limit.
SNAPPING THE SKID
Seager snapped a 0-for-19 skid with a single in the first inning, and finished the game going 2 for 3. It was the rookie’s team-leading 48th multihit game of the season.
UP NEXT
Padres: LHP Christian Friedrich (4-10, 4.84 ERA) makes his 19th start coming off his only relief appearance, a one-inning scoreless stint Tuesday at Atlanta. Friedrich is 0-8 with a 5.96 ERA over his 10
starts since June 29.
Dodgers: RHP Jose De Leon makes his major league debut. The 24-year-old finished up his Triple-A season with Oklahoma City with 7 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out 13 without a walk, in a division-clinching win.
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