The Los Angeles Dodgers made history on Friday night in Monterrey, Mexico, tossing the first combined no-hitter in franchise history in their 4-0 victory over the San Diego Padres.
Walker Buehler got the start for the Dodgers and in just his third career Major League outing, he looked as dominant as ever. Buehler was removed after six innings as his pitch count reached 93, which is one off his career high as a professional.
After the game, Buehler discussed the conversation he had with manager Dave Roberts after the sixth inning, admitting that it wasn’t easy, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“He told me I was out of pitches and I was out of the game. I mean, that’s probably the toughest one of those conversations I’ve ever had. I obviously wanted to keep going, but it’s above my pay grade and they made the choice and these guys finished it out, it was pretty cool.”
Buehler is just two years removed from Tommy John surgery, so the decision was not a difficult one for Roberts to make since he still had three innings to go to get the no-hitter.
Roberts explained that Buehler did not give him any backlash for removing him from the game, understanding the organization’s decision:
“With Walker, it was kind of just letting him know that was it for him, how well he threw and understanding how much of the game was left. He was totally complicit. Just understand where I was coming from, where the organization was coming from, what impact he has, how important he is for the organization this year and going forward. He completely understood.”
Overall, Buehler was dominant in the six hitless innings, striking out a career-high eight batters. Tony Cingrani, Yimi Garcia and Adam Liberatore finished out the no-hitter, starting out the Mexico series on a positive note for the Dodgers.
