Dodgers' Scherzer Gets 3,000th K, Near Perfecto Vs Padres
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Max Scherzer got his 3,000th career strikeout and took a perfect game into the eighth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 8-0 Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
Scherzer retired his first 22 batters before Eric Hosmer doubled to deep right with one out in the eighth. The crowd of 42,637 saluted Scherzer with a standing ovation after he finished the inning.
The 37-year-old All-Star reached 3,000 career strikeouts in the fifth when Hosmer went down swinging.
Scherzer struck out nine overall on 92 pitches. The three-time Cy Young Award winner threw an immaculate inning in the second with three strikeouts on nine pitches.
The Dodgers remained 2 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants.
In a big blow, San Diego starter Blake Snell left after 11 pitches with a left adductor injury. The Padres used seven pitchers in the emergency bullpen game.
Corey Seager and Mookie Betts hit solo homers, and Justin Turner added a three-run blast in the seventh to back Scherzer (14-4).
Seager went deep with two outs in the fourth off Dinelson Lamet (2-4). Betts followed in the fifth with a shot into left off Pierce Johnson.
Turner's homer off Emilio Pagán came with two outs in the seventh. Max Muncy added a run on his RBI double in the right-field corner.
The Padres didn't come close to getting a hit until Hosmer's double. They had four ground balls through 7 1/3 innings. Mostly, they popped up or struck out.
Padres reliever Austin Adams hit three batters in the eighth, giving him 23 hit batters this season to tie the live-ball era mark set by Detroit's Howard Ehmke in 1922.
Adams hit Betts with the bases loaded to bring in Will Smith, who got hit leading off the inning. Muncy's sacrifice fly made it 8-0. Adams then nearly hit Trea Turner, who went down in a heap, drawing prolonged boos from the crowd. He walked Trea Turner to load the bases again before Justin Turner flied out to end the inning.
Scherzer got help with solid defense from his outfielders who made catches under the challenging duel conditions of a piercing sun and cloudless sky.
In the sixth, catcher Smith chased a popup by Austin Nola into foul territory and made the catch near the on-deck circle, barely missing stepping on a stray bat.
Scherzer has two career no-hitters — both in 2015. He completed 8 2/3 perfect innings in the first one before Pirates batter Jose Tábata appeared to lean into a pitch but was still awarded first base.
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