Pepiot perfecto bid goes 6 2/3 in gem for Dodgers

MIAMI -- After watching Clayton Kershaw and Lance Lynn struggle in the first two games against the Marlins this week, it was easy to question if the Dodgers had enough starting pitching to make a deep run in the postseason.

Even through some of those struggles and the lingering questions, the club has stayed positive, constantly citing that it believes in the young starters that have been waiting to get an extended look.

Ryan Pepiot is right at the top of that list, and the right-hander showed why he was considered one of the best pitching prospects just a year ago. Pepiot flirted with perfection en route to tossing seven scoreless innings in the Dodgers' 10-0 win over the Marlins on Thursday night at loanDepot park.

• Games remaining: at WAS (3), vs. SD (3), at SEA (3), vs. DET (3), vs. SF (4), at COL (4), at SF (3)
• Standings update: The Dodgers (85-54) lead the D-backs (73-68) by 13 games in the NL West, but they trail the Braves (91-48) by six games for the No. 1 seed in the National League.
• Magic number to clinch NL West: 10

“It was really fun to watch,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “It was, obviously, his best big league outing. [He had] command all night. … Didn’t walk anybody. Man, we were all pulling for him. He keeps getting better every time he takes the baseball.”

Pepiot was in full control of the Marlins’ lineup from the get-go on Thursday. He struck out two in the first inning and he had all of his pitches working effectively. Pepiot was attacking the zone consistently, which was an issue he struggled with last season.

With very little stress, Pepiot retired the first 20 batters he faced, giving himself a realistic opportunity to become the first Dodgers pitcher to throw a perfect game since Sandy Koufax on Sept. 9, 1965.

“It was like the fifth inning,” Pepiot said of when he realized he was working on a perfect game bid. “When I finished the fifth, no one was talking to me anymore. Then, I looked up and saw the zero. But yeah, everyone was sliding by me, and then no one would sit anywhere near me.”

In the seventh, Luis Arraez came close to getting the first hit for the Marlins, but Dodgers second baseman Amed Rosario made a leaping grab to keep the bid intact.

“It was in the sixth inning that I noticed he had a perfect game,” Rosario said in Spanish. “And right away, I started to think to myself that I need to enjoy the game and make a play.”

But with two outs in the seventh, it was Josh Bell who broke up the bid with a single back up the middle on a Pepiot changeup that stayed up just a little too much. Pepiot then struck out Jazz Chisholm Jr. to end the seventh and cap off the best start of his young Major League career.

“He pitched great,” said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. “He pitched really good against us at their place and shoved it against us here. We just had a tough time with that changeup. … We just couldn’t get him up inside the strike zone, and that’s what happens.”

Heading into this week, Pepiot wasn’t even supposed to be with the Dodgers this turn through the rotation. Instead, he said he was preparing for a three-inning bulk outing with Triple-A Oklahoma City.

But once Los Angeles found out Julio Urías was going to be placed on paid administrative leave, the Dodgers notified Pepiot that he would likely be starting for the big league club on Thursday.

Pepiot, who has been waiting patiently after missing most of the season with a right oblique injury, has taken full advantage of his limited opportunities. He’s 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in 21 big league innings this season.

Given the state of the Dodgers’ rotation, Pepiot will continue getting those opportunities every fifth day. If he continues to perform like he has in his first four outings this season, Pepiot could carve himself quite the role on the postseason roster.

“I think his ability to go to both sides of the plate is what’s kind of different [from last season] right now,” said Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes. “But his ability to go to both sides of the plate now is really helping him through his little stretch right now. … He’s been throwing the ball really good.”