SAN DIEGO -- After the 16-inning adventure on Wednesday, the Dodgers came into the series finale Thursday night with a taxed bullpen. Kenley Jansen and Blake Treinen were unavailable, as were key middle relievers Alex Vesia, Corey Knebel and Phil Bickford.\n\nBecause they were missing half their bullpen, the Dodgers needed a strong -- and lengthy -- performance from their starter. Enter
“I knew coming in that the bullpen was taxed,” Scherzer said. “That’s what the team needed. The team needed me to go deep today, and I was able to go out there and execute the game plan with \\[catcher Austin\\] Barnes and we did a lot of great things tonight.”
Scherzer, who struggled in his first two starts against the Padres this season, dominated the San Diego hitters from start to finish this time. He struck out the side in the first inning and continued to cruise, retiring 12 of the first 13 batters he faced. Scherzer credited better sequencing and learning from his previous mistakes for the success on Thursday.\n\nThe only sign of trouble came in the fifth inning, when the Padres had two runners on. But Scherzer struck out Ha-Seong Kim and then got some help from
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Following that double play, Scherzer went back into cruise control. The only baserunner he allowed the rest of the way was a two-out walk to Jake Cronenworth in the sixth. Scherzer got 17 swings and misses, doing most of his damage with his four-seam fastball and slider.\n\nHis season ERA is now 2.51, the sixth-best in the Majors among qualified starters.\n\nIn his five starts with the Dodgers, Scherzer is 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA and 41 strikeouts over 29 innings.
“He’s been huge. He’s been better than advertised,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “I knew there was a work ethic, a compete, a fire, but I didn’t realize the preparation.\n\n“He knows exactly what he wants to do when he takes that mound. He knows where the defense is at. He knows how to navigate a lineup and he knows what stuff is working that particular night. You layer that in with the talent, and it’s pretty impressive. We needed a big one out of him, and he delivered.”\n\nWith Scherzer on the mound, the Dodgers’ offense was able to give him enough run support against Padres right-hander Yu Darvish.
While the offense did enough to help the Dodgers sweep, the biggest reason for the Dodgers’ success against the Padres this week was the stellar performances they got from their entire pitching staff, especially from their starting pitching.