Max Scherzer nearly perfect as Dodgers complete sweep of Padres

LOS ANGELES — The time belonged to Max Scherzer.

Utterly dominating the San Diego Padres, Scherzer recorded his 3,000th vocation strikeout, pitched an ‘immaculate inning’ and took a cleanable crippled into the eighth inning arsenic the Dodgers bushed the Padres 8-0 Sunday afternoon.

Eric Hosmer, Scherzer’s 3000th strikeout victim, was the Padres’ lone baserunner successful the game. He dropped a one-out treble into the close tract country successful the eighth inning, ending a tally of 22 consecutive batters retired by Scherzer.

It was not the closest Scherzer has travel to pitching the 24th cleanable crippled successful shot history. In June 2015, helium was wrong a onslaught of completing a cleanable crippled erstwhile helium deed a batter, settling for the archetypal of his 2 vocation no-hitters.

Scherzer has raised the barroom impossibly precocious for aboriginal trade-deadline acquisitions. The Dodgers are undefeated successful Scherzer’s 8 starts for them since helium was acquired from the Washington Nationals astatine the deadline.

Personally, Scherzer is 6-0 with a 0.88 ERA (five earned runs successful 51 innings) arsenic a Dodger, barging to the beforehand of the National League Cy Young Award race. He has fixed up conscionable 1 unearned tally successful his past 29 2/3 innings, striking retired 41 and allowing conscionable 12 hits successful that time.

Scherzer announced his beingness with authorization Sunday, striking retired 5 of the archetypal 7 Padres batters to scope the brink of 3,000. He struck retired the broadside successful the 2nd inning connected 9 pitches — 3 foul balls, six swings-and-misses. It was the 3rd clip successful his vocation that Scherzer has pitched an ‘immaculate inning,’ tying Chris Sale and Sandy Koufax for the astir since transportation counts person been tracked.

His milestone strikeout came successful the 5th inning erstwhile Hosmer swung and missed astatine a filthy changeup, down and in.

The assemblage responded with a roar and a lasting ovation, Scherzer tipping his headdress connected the mound earlier going backmost to business.

Scherzer is the 19th pitcher successful shot past to onslaught retired 3,000 batters, the seventh to adhd it to a postulation of 3 oregon much Cy Young awards and the archetypal to scope 3,000 portion wearing a Dodgers uniform.

The closest the Padres came to a deed during the archetypal 7 innings was astir apt Fernando Tatis Jr.’s alert retired to straightaway halfway tract to commencement the 5th inning. Cody Bellinger ran that thrust down connected the informing track, 390 feet distant from location plate.

Other than that, the Dodgers’ fielders were challenged much by the prima successful a cloudless entity than thing the Padres batters did — 10 of the 16 balls they enactment successful play against Scherzer were outs recorded successful the air.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ discourtesy remained successful its three-week (or more) funk for astir of the day. Solo location runs by Corey Seager successful the 4th and Mookie Betts successful the 5th were 2 of conscionable 4 hits the Dodgers had successful the archetypal six innings Sunday.

Those came disconnected Padres relievers. Starting pitcher Blake Snell (who took a cleanable crippled into the seventh inning against the Angels successful his erstwhile start) lasted conscionable 11 pitches, leaving successful the archetypal inning with an evident injury.

Snell delivered a 1-and-1 transportation to Trea Turner with 2 outs successful the archetypal inning, missing with a slider, and past instantly headed for the dugout successful evident discomfort. The Padres’ authoritative announcement was that Snell had near the crippled with near adductor tightness.

The Dodgers broke the crippled unfastened with a four-run seventh inning extended erstwhile Padres close fielder Wil Myers mislaid Betts’ catchable alert shot successful the sun. It fell successful for a deed and 3 batters aboriginal Justin Turner took advantage, sending a three-run location tally into the near tract pavilion.

That half-inning (featuring 7 batters and a pitching change) lasted implicit 20 minutes, the longest Scherzer had to hold betwixt pitches during the game. Hosmer’s treble followed 2 batters later.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pinch-hit for Scherzer arsenic the Dodgers scored 2 much runs successful the bottommost of the eighth, putting distant their 2nd three-game expanse of the Padres successful little than a month. They besides won 3 successful San Diego August 24-26.