Los Angeles, this Bud's for you.
Bud Norris threw six shutout innings in his Dodger debut and Los Angeles beat the Colorado Rockies 5-0 on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
Norris was acquired from the Atlanta Braves on Thursday after the Dodgers found out the dreaded news that Clayton Kershaw would head to the 15-day disabled list with a herniated disc in his lower back.
"Regardless of Clayton, obviously we're going to need him back as quick is possible," Norris said of having to fill in for Kershaw in the rotation. "I once got traded to Baltimore and I changed dugouts. It's a whirlwind thing, but I just want to make sure I'm ready to step on the mound when it's time."
On Friday, Norris became the 10th different starting pitcher for the boys in blue and he made good with the hometown fans—doing his best Kershaw impression—en route to his first victory in a Dodger uniform.
"You definitely live witht he stadium, the crowd and the fans," Norris said. "It's an adrenaline rush and you really need to slow the game down. This was a good win to be able to start off like that."
The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo product allowed no runs on two hits with a season-high eight strikeouts in six scoreless innings.
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"I worked hard to get back into the rotation. I knew there were some mechanical things I needed to go to get better," Norris said of his in-season turnaround. "It was refreshing. When things are right, things are right."
The right-hander is 3-0 with a 1.78 ERA in his last five starts and if he continues on this pace, he will cement himself within the Dodgers rotation even after Kershaw returns from the disabled list.
"We felt he was a front line guy the way he was throwing the baseball," Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts said. "For him to pitch like this, I see no reason to see why he wouldn't stay in the rotation."
Adrian Gonzalez knocked in two of the Dodgers five runs with RBI singles in the fourth and eighth innings, respectively. After a two-day rest in Pittsburgh, Gonzalez is 7-for-11 with two doubles and four RBI.
"Tonight he had some big hits for us," Roberts said. "Adrian is starting to swing the bat well. My confidence in him as a hitter has never wavered."
Jorge de la Rosa gifted the Dodgers the second run of the game when he threw a wild pitch to move runners into scoring position and then committed a balk to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
De La Rosa (5-5) was dealt his fifth loss of the season, but first since May 24th. The left-hander was unbeaten in his last six games, but allowed two runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts in seven innings on Friday.
Howie Kendrick hit an RBI double and Scott Van Slyke followed with a sacrifice fly as the Dodgers tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Corey Seager went 2-for-4 with a run scored and extended his hitting streak to a season-high 14 games as his batting average eclipsed the .300 (.302) mark for the first time this year.
"I just go out there every night and try to grind out ab's [at-bats], grind out wins, grind out everything," Seager said. "It's always good to get a win."
LA has now won seven in a row at home and are tied for the MLB lead with nine shutouts this season.
Players of the Game:
Bud Norris: 0 runs, 2 hits, 8 strikeouts, 6 IP.
Adrian Gonzalez: 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and a run scored.
Howie Kendrick: 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and run scored.
Three Takeaways:
1. The Walking Wounded: The Dodgers placed Clayton Kershaw (herniated disc) and Joc Pederson (sprained shoulder) on the 15-day disabled list on Friday. Los Angeles has had 19 different players on the disabled list this season, more than any other team in the Majors.
Dodgers place Clayton Kershaw and Joc Pederson on 15-day DL, activate Bud Norris and select contract of Will Venable from Triple-A OKC. — Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 1, 2016
2. Bud Light: Bud Norris was brilliant in his Dodger debut. After being traded to the Dodgers on Thursday, Norris threw six shutout innings allowing just two hits against the Rockies.
Quality Dodger debut for Bud Norris pic.twitter.com/P9e87ihaVp — TheConman (@akaTheConman) July 2, 2016
3. Liberated: Adam Liberatore threw 2/3 of an inning and did not allow a run. He has not allowed a run in 15 consecutive innings and 20 games overall since May 20th.
By Louis Coleman getting the final out of the inning, Adam Liberatore now has gone 20 straight games w/o allowing an ER. — Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) July 2, 2016
Up Next:
Rockies (37-42): Chad Bettis heads to the bump on Saturday night for Colorado.
Dodgers (45-37): Scott Kazmir gets the start on Saturday at 7:10PM PST.
