Although the line score shows otherwise, seven Dodgers pitchers threw a combined no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night in front of a sparse Petco Park crowd of 29,708, a good many of whom were Dodger fans.

Unfortunately, eight Dodgers pitchers were used in the eventual 6-3 Dodgers win over the friars.

This, of course, means that the other Dodgers pitcher, 28-year-old right-hander Dylan Floro, allowed all three of the Padres runs and all five of their hits in a horrendous bottom of the fifth inning which, quite frankly, never should have been allowed to happen by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

After an outstanding pre-planned two-inning start by 39-year-old Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill, who did not allow a run or hit to any of the eight Padres batters he faced while striking out six of them, 25-year-old Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin came in and also did not allow a run or hit to any of the six Padres batters he faced over his two innings of work while striking out three.

However, in the bottom of the fifth, Floro not only allowed all three of the Padres runs, but all five of their hits, including a one-out double by Padres catcher Luis Torrens, a RBI single by shortstop Luis Urías, and a two-out inside-the-park Little League home run by center fielder Manuel Margot – i.e., a triple and a throwing error charged to Dodgers rookie second baseman Gavin Lux because Floro did not back-up Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner on the throw. As a result and because Roberts allowed a (very) obviously struggling Floro to continue for seven batters and 16 clearly ineffective pitches, what very well could have been a combined no-hit shutout ended up a 6-3 ballgame.

Roberts finally replaced Floro with two outs in the bottom of the fifth with Dodgers sidearm-slinging LOOGY Adam Kolarek, who struck out always-dangerous Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer on five pitches to end the melee.

Messers Kenta Maeda, Julio Urías, Pedro Baez, and Kenley Jansen took over for Kolarek respectively without allowing a run or hit while striking out a combined three Padres batters and walking two. Because of Hill’s abbreviated two-inning start, Gonsolin was credited with the win, with Kolarek, Maeda, Urias, and Baez each earning a hold and Jansen picking up his 31st save of the season.

The real story in Tuesday night’s Dodgers win – their 101st of the season – was the return of Hill, who was making his first start since June 19 when he sprained the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee. As noted, the Boston, MA native and 15-year MLB veteran did not allow a run or hit in his 2.0 innings of work and even collected his first double of the season in the top of the second inning.

“He wasn’t supposed to swing the bat,” Roberts told reporters after the game about Hill’s double. “Now it’s like, are you going to try to steal third base?

“There’s a lot of will, there’s a lot of fight,” Roberts added, on a more serious note. “He just continues to will himself to get through that. He’s trying to continue to show that he’s fine. I appreciate the compete. It’s encouraging that the door remains open. The goal is to get him ready for the Division Series.”

As for the veteran left-hander, who was wearing a brace on his left knee during his two innings of work, he was more than pleased with his return to action, this in spite of the fact that he had a noticeable limp as he walked … and ran the bases.

“I was able to pitch through [the pain], and pitch well,” said Hill. “You’re going to have some tough issues to pitch through, and when you’re faced with them you either do it or not do it. In Baltimore [on September 12], the pain was a lot worse than it was tonight.”

The plan moving forward is for Hill to make another start on Sunday in San Francisco of three innings. Depending on how that goes will determine if he will be included on the Dodgers postseason roster or not; something that he is very cognizant about.

“When you see swings and misses and late swings away from their dominant hand, and guys fouling balls off, it’s a good sign,”, Hill said. “I don’t think I was null and void from the bottom half. There’s work to do to find another mile an hour, but everything with the new metrics were very good. If you look at it like a second start of Spring Training, it was good.”

I would be remiss if I did not mention the Dodgers continuing offensive dominance on Tuesday night, especially a fourth-inning grand slam home run by Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy, who sat out two games with quad tightness. It was Muncy’s first career grand slam and his 34th home run of the season, second-most on the team behind Cody Bellinger‘s 46 round-trippers.

Dodgers right fielder Joc Pederson added a solo shot down the left field line in the top of the ninth inning to drive the proverbial final nail in the Padres coffin.

As a side note, Hill’s strikeout of Luis Urías to end the second inning was the 1,000th strikeout of his remarkable 15-year MLB career. The ball was recovered, authenticated, and given back to the veteran left-hander.

Play Ball!

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