For the first time all season, the Los Angeles Dodgers moved into sole possession of first place in the National League West after defeating the San Diego Padres, 3-2, at Petco Park to win their four-game series.
It was symbolic that the jump to the division lead came on a night that Ross Stripling pitched, considering how valuable he has been for the Dodgers this season. His opportunity in the rotation was created due to several starters suffering injury.
Stripling has been the Dodgers best starter this season, and he had another strong outing on Thursday, tossing six shutout innings while allowing six hits and a walk with five strikeouts.
He was able to get through six innings despite not having his best stuff, which is a good thing to see for a young, developing pitcher that is getting his first looking in the starting rotation since his rookie year.
After the game, Stripling discussed the outing and the sense of relief that came with logging six frames despite not being at his best, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“It was a battle,” said Stripling. “I wasn’t missing many barrels. The last pitch was a curveball right down the middle and just a laser at [shortstop] Chris Taylor. A little bit of luck. It’s easy to feel happy about that because you didn’t have your best stuff and escape with six zeros and a win. It’s pretty cool, doesn’t happen every day, especially in the big leagues.”
Overall in 25 games (14 starts) this season, Stripling is 8-2 with a 2.08 ERA, 2.70 FIP and 1.08 WHIP with 108 strikeouts compared to just 14 walks in 95.1 innings.
He was recently named to his first career All-Star Game as a replacement for St. Louis Cardinals starter Mile Mikolas, an honor that is much deserved for the young right-hander.
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