PHOENIX — Walker Buehler sauntered off the mound at Chase Field, home of the worst team in major league baseball, on Saturday night to a standing ovation. The raucous cheers came from the masses of Dodger blue that infiltrated the desert for the road team to watch their team hammer the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-3 for the home club’s record-setting 16th straight loss.
Halfway to the Dodgers’ dugout Buehler looked up and raised his right hand to acknowledge the support, prompting the fans to reach another decibel level. They were loud because Buehler gave them a memorable evening, a dominant near no-hitter that served as a reminder of the 26-year-old right-hander’s ace-like talent.
Buehler held a no-hitter until David Peralta led off the eighth inning with a line-drive single to center field. Two batters later, Nick Ahmed punched a single through the left side to coach Dodgers manager Dave Roberts from the dugout. Buehler gave him the ball, fist-bumped his five teammates on the mound and walked off to the shower of love.
He finished with a season-high 11 strikeouts over 7-1/3 innings. He walked two batters, hit another and threw a season-high 108 pitches. He hasn’t been charged with a loss since September 2019.
His offense made sure of that by pouncing early.
The Dodgers (43-27) won Friday’s series opener, but their troubles against left-handed starting pitchers continued when Caleb Smith limited them to one hit over six scoreless innings. On Saturday, Matt Peacock, a right-hander, took the mound and the Dodgers wasted no time applying pressure.
Mookie Betts led off with a double. Three batters later, Will Smith clubbed a two-run home run with two outs. The Dodgers added another run in the second inning on Gavin Lux’s RBI single. Peacock exited after the fifth inning. Justin Turner then swatted a three-run double off right-hander Kevin Ginkel in the sixth to double the Dodgers’ lead.
That was more than Buehler needed to ensure that the Diamondbacks (20-52) lost for the 38th time in 44 games.
Buehler’s 2021 season up to Saturday had been unusual.
On the one hand, he was the Dodgers’ most consistent starter. He completed at least six innings in each of his first 13 starts. He posted a 2.38 ERA. His walk rate was one of the lowest in the majors. He was healthy and ready out of spring training for a full workload as a major leaguer for the first time, and he was succeeding every time he got the ball.
On the other, the steady success surfaced despite producing fewer swing-and-misses than ever before in his major league career. He was striking out 8.3 hitters per nine innings, by far the fewest as a major leaguer. And yet the Dodgers won nine of his 13 games. He entered Saturday with a 6-0 record.
“I don’t know,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said before Saturday’s game. “We’ve tried to zero in on like where the why is there that lack of that swing-and-miss or lack of that punch.
“But at the end of the day, he’s pitching like six innings every time, so it’s that balance of like, ‘OK, are we going to go for potentially more punch, more strikeouts and does that lead to more walks, more baserunners, etc.?’ We’re definitely aware of it, but I haven’t been able pinpoint like why.”
Producing strikeouts wasn’t a problem for Buehler on Saturday. He generated 14 whiffs and 21 called strikes with his 108 pitches. He had six strikeouts through four innings and didn’t allow a baserunner from the fifth inning until Peralta’s single in the eighth.
Moments later, he exited to a roar in enemy territory.
