LOS ANGELES _ Jose De Leon did not produce a quality start in his highly anticipated major league debut on Sunday, but the Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander finished with a flourish, striking out the side in the sixth inning of a 7-4 victory over the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.
De Leon, 24, gave up four runs and six hits in six innings, striking out nine and walking none, and Yasiel Puig and Yasmani Grandal powered the offense with home runs. The Dodgers won their fourth consecutive series and pushed their National League West lead over San Francisco to three games.
The nine strikeouts for De Leon, the 15th pitcher _ and fifth rookie _ to start for the Dodgers this season, were the second-most by a Dodgers pitcher in his major league debut behind Pedro Astacio (1992) and Kaz Ishii (2002), who each struck out 10.
The Dodgers put De Leon in line for the win by rallying for two runs in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead. Justin Turner fouled off five consecutive full-count pitches before drawing an 11-pitch walk against starter Christian Friedrich. Adrian Gonzalez struck out, but Puig drew a four-pitch walk against reliever Kevin Quackenbush.
Chase Utley shot a grounder through the right side for a run-scoring single that tied the score, 4-4, and advanced Puig to third. Grandal, batting for Austin Barnes, grounded another RBI single to right for a 5-4 lead, with Utley taking third.
The rally ended when Grandal was thrown out at second base trying to advance on a ball that Padres catcher Hector Sanchez dropped and pinch-hitter Corey Seager struck out when facing reliever Brad Hand.
De Leon then struck out Alex Dickerson swinging through a changeup, Ryan Schimpf looking at a 91-mph fastball on the outside corner and Sanchez swinging at a changeup before being pulled for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the sixth.
Puig walked with one out in the seventh, and Grandal, batting from the right side, hit a towering two-run homer, his 23rd of the season, just beyond the reach of the leaping Dickerson at the left-field wall for a 7-4 lead.
Grant Dayton struck out two in a hitless seventh, Joe Blanton threw a scoreless eighth, and closer Kenley Jansen added a scoreless ninth for his 41st save.
De Leon wobbled in the first, giving up a two-out single to Yangervis Solarte and walking Dickerson before striking out Schimpf to end the inning.
He retired the side in order in the second, but after walking Travis Jankowski with one out in the third, he grooved a first-pitch fastball to Solarte, who belted it into the right-field pavilion for a two-run homer and a 2-0 lead.
The Dodgers countered with three runs in the bottom of the third, Turner drawing a one-out walk, Adrian Gonzalez beating the shift with a bunt single to third and Puig cracking a three-run homer to left off Friedrich, a shot that carried significance for both the mercurial right fielder and the Dodgers.
It was Puig's first homer since July 4 and his first since his monthlong exile to triple-A Oklahoma City, a demotion that was prompted not only by Puig's sluggish bat but his uneven work habits and occasional on-field lapses.
Puig hit .348 with a .994 on-base-plus-slugging percentage and four homers in 19 triple-A games. If he can provide production in a right-field platoon with Josh Reddick, he could restore some of the faith his organization has lost in him and provide a boost for his team against left-handed pitching.
The Dodgers entered Sunday with a 16-19 record against left-handed starters and a major league-worst .637 OPS against all left-handed pitchers. They were 59-41 against right-handed starters with a .766 OPS against all right-handers.
