Dodgers pull out win over Padres
LOS ANGELES -- Yasiel Puig homered and Rich Hill threw five strong innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 on Wednesday night.
The Dodgers got an RBI double from Adrian Gonzalez to go with an unearned run as they rebounded from being blanked by the Padres in the previous game.
Hill (1-0) surrendered one run on two hits and three walks, with five strikeouts. The southpaw, who signed a three-year, $48 million contract to return to L.A. in the offseason, won four of his six Dodgers starts. The 14-year veteran came to the Dodgers in August from the Oakland A's in a five-player deal.
Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his first save of the season.
Trevor Cahill (0-1), in his Padres debut, worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (two unearned) on five hits. He walked three with seven strikeouts. It was Cahill's second start in his last 51 outings.
The Padres, who had only three hits, brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth after Travis Jankowski walked. But Manuel Margot and Wil Myers flied out.
Yasiel Puig lofted a two-out home run midway up the left-field seats in the fourth inning, extending the Dodgers' edge to 3-1. It was Puig's first of the year.
Rookie Hunter Renfroe smashed his initial homer of the season, pulling the Padres to within 2-1 in the fourth. Renfroe, the Pacific Coast League MVP last year, crushed a 74 mph Hill offering, with the ball redirected at 106 mph.
The Dodgers had a scare in the second when the left-handed Hill was struck on his right hand by a Cahill pitch. But Hill was able to stay in the game.
The Dodgers struck fast in the first to take a 2-0 lead one night after being shut out by the Padres.
Adrian Gonzalez's two-out, slicing double down the left-field line scored Corey Seager, who was aboard on a double. The Dodgers added another run when Myers misplayed third baseman Ryan Schimpf's throw on Logan Forsythe's grounder, which allowed Gonzalez to score.
NOTES: The Padres outrighted LHP Keith Hessler to Triple-A El Paso and RHP Cesar Vargas to Double-A San Antonio. ... LHP Christian Friedrich, who opened the season on the DL with a sore shoulder, now has elbow issues. ... Randy Jones, a one-time Cy Young Award winner with the Padres, will throw out the first ball at their home opener on Friday against the San Francisco Giants. Jones is battling throat cancer. ... Dodgers OF Andre Ethier (back) remains out and there is no timetable for his return to baseball activities.