LOS ANGELES_You might soon be able to bet on baseball in California, but there are some bets you would not have taken in spring training. You would have dismissed them as prop bets proposed by your wacky uncle.
The Milwaukee Brewers would have the best record in the National League? Not taking that bet.
The Dodgers would throw a no-hitter, with four pitchers, in a foreign country? Get out of here.
The Dodgers' two most effective starting pitchers would be Walker Buehler and Ross Stripling? Who in the name of Clayton Kershaw would take that bet?
For now _ and for as long as they can ride this wave _ the Dodgers would. With Kershaw on the disabled list, a minor league callup and a long reliever have led the starting rotation as the Dodgers make their climb in the NL West, from the bottom up.
Buehler has the hype, and the pedigree of a first-round draft pick.
Stripling might be best known for his "Chicken Strip" nickname, his status as a licensed stockbroker, and for getting removed from a no-hitter in his first major league start. For the moment, the Dodgers know him as indispensable.
Stripling set a career high with 10 strikeouts on Friday, holding the San Diego Padres to one run over 6 2/3 innings of the Dodgers' 4-1 victory. The Dodgers (23-27) won for the seventh time in eight games, in the process closing within a half-game of the third-place San Francisco Giants.
There was not much suspense on this night. The Dodgers had all the runs they would need before they made an out.
Chris Taylor and Justin Turner each walked to start the bottom of the first inning, and Matt Kemp launched a home run, beyond center field and good for a 3-0 lead. The three-run home run was the Dodgers' first since April 16, and Kemp hit that one too.
Kemp is batting .486 with runners in scoring position, the major league leader in that category. He is batting .338 overall, third in the league behind the similarly surprising Nick Markakis of the Atlanta Braves and Odubel Herrera of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Enrique Hernandez hit a home run in the third inning, the only other run the Dodgers scored, on an evening in which their offense consisted of four hits. Kenley Jansen worked the ninth inning for his 11th save; he has pitched 11 consecutive scoreless innings.
The Padres would not have scored at all but for Yasiel Puig, who misplayed a Manuel Margot double and did not recover before Margot could take third base on the error. Margot scored on a ground out, an unearned run.
That left Stripling with a 1.74 ERA, third in the NL among pitchers with at least 40 innings, just ahead of defending Cy Young winner Max Scherzer.
Stripling has struck out 29 batters since he last walked one.
