Urías earns 17th win with 7 scoreless innings

LOS ANGELES -- When you talk about the National League Cy Young Award, the two Dodgers pitchers who usually are brought up are Walker Buehler and Max Scherzer. Those two certainly will finish in the top five in voting, and one of them ultimately could be the winner.

Because of Buehler and Scherzer’s success, it’s easy to overlook the type of season Julio Urías is having. The Mexican left-hander likely won’t win any awards, but he has taken the next step. He’s been an invaluable piece to a Dodgers team that has the best pitching staff in the Majors despite navigating through a flurry of injuries.

But the bottom line is that when Urías pitches, the Dodgers usually win that game. That was the case yet again on Friday night as Urías picked up his Majors-leading 17th win of the season after striking out seven over seven innings in the Dodgers’ 3-0 win over the Padres at Dodger Stadium.

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Los Angeles is 22-6 when Urías starts this season, including seven consecutive wins. It’s the most wins by a team in one pitcher’s starts in 2021.

With the win, the Dodgers remained 2 1/2 games behind the Giants in the National League West race with 20 games left in the regular season. LA’s magic number to clinch a postseason berth is down to seven.

“He’s a frontline starter,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Urías. “When he takes the baseball, we expect to win. For him to go deep tonight -- just that growth and maturity -- I can’t say enough about him.”

After a disappointing 3-4 road trip, the Dodgers hoped that being back at Dodger Stadium would help jump-start them in what is shaping out to be a crucial homestand. Having Urías on the bump certainly helped.

In the first two innings, Urías wasn’t attacking the strike zone at his usual clip, yet he was still able to make key pitches when needed. The Padres had two runners on in the first inning, but Urías got Wil Myers to strike out swinging to end the threat.

“I thought some of those pitches were strikes, but after watching the video now, I can see that they were a little out of the zone,” Urías said in Spanish. “But I just tried to focus over the next six innings and do the job that I was able to do tonight.”

Once Urías settled down, the Padres’ offense was left searching for answers. Urías was able to keep San Diego off-balance with a steady diet of four-seamers and curveballs, and an occasional changeup. With the entire mix working, the Padres recorded three hits off Urías and just five hard-hit balls.

The performance Friday continued one of the best stretches of Urías’ career. He hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in a game since July 16 against the Rockies at Coors Field. He has dominated the Padres during that span, tossing 12 consecutive shutout innings against them. Urías has lowered his season ERA to 2.98.

Urías also became the fifth Mexico-born pitcher to record 17 or more wins in a season, joining Fernando Valenzuela (three times), Teddy Higuera (twice), Esteban Loaiza and Yovani Gallardo.

“I just have to keep pitching. In previous years, I didn’t have the opportunity to pitch every fifth day. I just had to wait for my next opportunity,” Urías said. “I also think the confidence the team gives me is something that has me on the right path.”

Though Urías was the star of the night, he also got enough help from his defense and offense. Chris Taylor chipped in with a sac fly at the plate and also robbed Manny Machado of at least extra bases with a catch in center field in the fifth inning.

“I thought it was out because he does a good job of having the ability to backspin the baseball, so I was just hoping it would stay in the ballpark,” Roberts said. “[Taylor] made a really nice play.”

Max Muncy continued his impressive season, smacking his 32nd homer of the season, a long and loud blast off Padres starter Joe Musgrove in the third.

The night, however, belonged to Urías. The Dodgers needed a win. Urías delivered, just like he has done all season.