LOS ANGELES – Mike Bolsinger nearly threw a no-hitter and Joc Pederson homered in his first at bat as the Dodgers shutout the San Diego Padres 2-0 on Saturday night.
Bolsinger, who didn't make the Dodgers opening day roster, was simply a spot starter before injuries to Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu made him a permanent part of the starting rotation.
After a leadoff single to Yangervis Solarte, Bolsinger did not allow another hit, or another base runner for that matter, over the next eight innings.
The right-hander from Texas mixed pitchers including his curveball and slider throughout the game to hold the San Diego Padres off balance throughout the game. Bolsinger allowed no runs on one hit with a career-high eight strikeouts in eight shutout innings to improve his ERA to an eye-pooping 0.71.
"It was a bummer that he gave up a hit on the first batter," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said sarcastically. "I knew the entire day, even driving to the ballpark that this game has no hitter written all over it."
Bolsinger retired 23 consecutive batters after Solarte and the Dodgers faced the minimum 27 hitters for the first time since April 26, 2002 when Odalis Perez also threw a one-hitter against the Chicago Cubs.
In addition to outstanding performance, Bolsinger has also gone 19 consecutive scoreless innings for Los Angeles. The last run allowed by Bolsinger was a 478-foot solo shot by Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton on May 12th.
"I was locked in," Bolsinger said. "All my pitches seemed a lot more crisp."
Joc Pederson hit a leadoff homer run to start the game. Pederson has now homered in consecutive at-bats after he hit the game winning blast a night prior in his last plate appearance. His three leadoff home runs on the season are tied with the most by a Dodgers rookie since Johnny Frederick in 1929. Davey Lopes has the franchise record with 7 in 1979.
The solo shot was Pederson's team-high 12th round tripper of the season, tied for second in the league behind only Bryce Harper (16) of the Washington Nationals.
It was Adrian Gonzalez bobblehead night as the Dodgers first baseman was honored with an MVP award and his father David Gonzalez threw out the ceremonial fist pitch.
"It was great," Gonzalez said. "It takes you a little bit out of your game. Those are memories you won't forget."
Justin Turner scored the man-of-the-hour in the bottom half of the sixth inning. Gonzalez hit a two-out single to left off Kennedy and Turner hit a double to the gap one pitch later to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
"I'll always be able to bring the wheels to the park," Gonzalez joked. "I could have gone for three more rounds."
Ian Kennedy (2-4) allowed two runs on six hits with six strikeouts in six innings. Needless to say, Kennedy has an affinity for the number six.
The right-hander, which before the game Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully said "he used to be great," has gone 0-7 with a 5.48 ERA against Los Angeles in his last 11 outings.
"Pederson did a good job of hitting that home run," Kennedy said. "He's a talented player, but you expect when you make a pitch like that you're going to at least get a single or something else. Not a homer."
Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his third save of the season. Jansen has stabilized the back end of the bullpen, which was struggling before Jansen came off the disabled list last week.
The powerless Padres only managed one hit, a leadoff single by Solarte to right-center field. The next batter was Cory Spangenberg who quickly grounded into a double play and the Padres would not get another runner on base the remainder of the evening. San Diego has now lost four straight.
"We're not really driving the ball or squaring a lot of balls up," said Padres manager Bud Black. "When that happens, though, there's going to be some pitchers and teams that pay, because that's coming, that's coming at some point. It always does. We've got to ride this out. This is a tough one, but we will ride this out and we will get through it, because this group will hit"
Justin Upton was ejected from the game in the top of the eighth inning for arguing balls and strikes.
Will Middlebrooks started at shortstop of the first time in his eight-year career. The San Diego third baseman luckily had only one ball hit to him all night, and easy grounder by Turner.
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