Hyun-jin Ryu was great for six innings, and the Dodgers bullpen finished off a 1960s flashback weekend with a second consecutive 1-0 win over the Padres to capture the series against San Diego.
The two teams combined for 14 total runs in the series, seven for each side, with the Dodgers winning three of the four games by scores of 2-1, 1-0 and 1-0. The last time the Dodgers won back-to-back 1-0 games was July 8-9, 2011, also against the Padres at Dodger Stadium.
Ryu was outstanding, bouncing back after one of his worst starts of the season with one of his best, striking out a season-high 10 with only two singles allowed and no walks. He was pulled after only 92 pitches.
"His bounce back was perfect. The reason we didn't send him back out in the seventh was because the inning got long, we felt like he was getting a little bit tired," manager Don Mattingly said. "We felt like it was the right situation for our pen, knowing with the break we'd be able to use some guys we wouldn't normally use."
Ryu heads into the break with some numbers very similar to his rookie campaign:
2013: 18 starts, 7-3, 3.09 ERA, 116⅔ innings, 107 hits, 42 runs, 40 earned runs, 93 strikeouts, 39 walks, 10 homers allowed
2013: 18 starts, 10-5, 3.44 ERA, 104⅔ innings, 108 hits, 43 runs, 40 earned runs, 93 strikeouts, 21 walks, seven homers allowed
"I think he does get overlooked, but the people that know in baseball, get him on the free market and they'd be going crazy over him," Mattingly said of Ryu. "The people within the game and the industry know how good he is."
The Dodgers got their run against the fantastic Tyson Ross in the sixth inning, borrowing a page from the 1960s. Dee Gordon singled with out, then stole second base on a pitch out, his major league best 43rd swipe of the season.
After a Carl Crawford walk, Yasiel Puig delivered an RBI single to center, clapping nearly all the way to first knowing he gave the Dodgers the lead.
The only other real scoring opportunity against Ross came in the second inning, when Andre Ethier doubled to open the frame, then advanced to third base on a broken-bat single by Juan Uribe. But Ross struck out A.J. Ellis, then got out of the jam when Miguel Rojas lined into a double play at third base.
"That guy today, I thought he was filthy," Mattingly said of Ross.
Ross finished with nine strikeouts in his seven innings, with just the one run allowed on six hits and one walk. He enters the break with a hard-luck 10 losses despite his 2.85 ERA, thanks in large part to San Diego scoring eight runs in his last eight starts.
Kenley Jansen allowed a walk and a hit in the ninth but was able to close out the game for his 27th save of the season. He struck out Dodger-killer Seth Smith to end the game, Jansen's ninth consecutive scoreless appearance.
Sunday particulars
Home runs: none
WP - Hyun-jin Ryu (10-5): 6 IP, 2 hits, 10 strikeouts
LP - Tyson Ross (7-10): 7 IP, 6 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts
Sv - Kenley Jansen (27): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts