MONTERREY, Mexico _ Walker Buehler charged out of his dugout and leaped into the arms of Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal. He eschewed a fist bump from reliever Adam Liberatore and hugged his teammate instead. As the Dodgers celebrated a 4-0 victory over San Diego, Buehler sought out the others who contributed to a unique milestone: The first combined no-hitter in Dodgers franchise history, and only the 12th in the history of the sport.
Buehler did the lion's share of the work, logging six innings of no-hit baseball in the third start of his big-league career. After Buehler left the mound, Tony Cingrani handled the seventh. He walked a pair but did not permit a hit. Yimi Garcia blitzed through the eighth. When Liberatore struck out Padres outfielder Franchy Cordero to end the ninth, Grandal threw his fists toward the sky. Buehler ran out to celebrate with them.
"It's a no-hitter," Buehler said after he showered off the Tecate bath his teammates provided in the post-game bash. "We're all pretty excited about it."
Buehler did not have a chance to make history on his own. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts referred to his decision to remove Buehler from the game after the sixth inning as a "no-brainer." Buehler called it "the toughest one of those conversations I've ever had." Roberts has more experience in these situations.
By now, in his third season as manager, Roberts has grown accustomed to this sort of stress. He took the baseball from Ross Stripling in his debut outing after 7 1/3 innings in 2016. Later that summer, Roberts made the more difficult choice to end Rich Hill's bid for a perfect game in Miami. In both cases, Roberts opted to avoid exposing his players to the threat of injury.
The decision on Friday followed the same logical pattern. Buehler had thrown 93 pitches, one shy of his professional high. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015. He is operating under a tightly monitored innings restriction this season. At 23, Buehler is the most promising arm in the Dodgers farm system _ and he may become a mainstay in the rotation. Roberts reminded Buehler of these factors when the manager took the ball.
"He was totally complicit," Roberts said. "Just understood where I was coming from, understood where the organization was coming from, what impact he has, how important he is for the organization this year, and going forward."
With Hyun-Jin Ryu out until after the All-Star break with a torn groin muscle, the Dodgers need a fifth starter. Buehler has excelled in his three opportunities. He has posted a 1.13 earned-run average and struck out 19 batters. He fanned eight Padres on Friday as he pitched through an early-game downpour at Monterrey Stadium.
The Dodgers (15-17) have now won three in a row. They have a chance to salvage this hellish road trip, in which they lost three of four in San Francisco and then lost shortstop Corey Seager to season-ending elbow surgery. Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez led the offense with back-to-back homers in the second inning.
"This is my fourth year with the Dodgers, and it seems like we get going in May every year," Hernandez said. "And May is here."
Midway through the top of the third, the grounds crew intervened to fix the mound. The mud had clumped in the cleats of both Lucchesi and Buehler. Buehler struggled with his command in the third, issuing a pair of walks.
By the fourth, the weather had calmed down. A stoppage looked less likely. The Dodgers added a run in the sixth when Chase Utley hopped off the bench to hit a triple. Alex Verdugo brought Utley home with an RBI single.
Soon after, Verdugo played an inadvertent role in Buehler's first big-league hit. Leaning off first base, Verdugo got clipped by a liner off Buehler's bat. The ball was ruled dead after it hit Buehler's foot.
Buehler went back out for the sixth. He struck out Padres rookie Javy Guerra and produced a pair of groundouts. Inside the dugout, Roberts came by. He informed Buehler that his pitch count featured no more room to maneuver.
"Obviously, I wanted to keep going," Buehler said. "But obviously, it's above my pay grade. They made the choice. And for these guys to finish it out, it's pretty cool."
The bullpen made things look easy. Cingrani escaped the jam he created. Garcia looked dominant. Liberatore stepped into a situation with more pressure than the average appearance with a four-run lead.
"I knew the position I was in going into that last inning," Liberatore said. "I just wanted to give it my best effort. Really, throwing every pitch as hard as I could, trying to execute: Get three outs without giving up a hit."
Liberatore did his job. In turn, the Dodgers made history.
"It's a special night," Roberts said, "for all of us."
