Julio Urías enjoyed this trip to Seattle and performance against the Mariners way more than the last time he was on the same mound.
Urías threw seven dominant innings of one-hit ball, striking out a career-high 11 and leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 1-0 win on Tuesday.
The matchup between early-season division leaders out West was an entertaining pitchers’ duel with Urías getting the better of Seattle’s Marco Gonzales. And it was a much different result than last summer, when Urías failed to make it out of the second inning in his only other start against the Mariners.
Urías said that uncharacteristic outing was a reminder to trust his pitches.
“I know that I have really good stuff, and to have confidence to attack the players, to attack the hitters and just trust that my stuff plays,” Urías said through a translator.
Urías (3-0) was outstanding, painting edges with a fastball in the mid-90s and mixing in a curveball that kept Seattle’s hitters guessing. Seattle’s lone hit was Mitch Haniger’s slow infield single with two outs in the third inning.
Urías allowed two baserunners and neither reached second base. He had 10 strikeouts through five innings and seven of the nine batters in Seattle’s lineup struck out at least once against him.
“I just can’t recall any better, kind of from the first pitch to the last pitch efficiency, command of all three pitches, getting ahead of hitters,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He had complete control, command today.”
It appeared Urías was in line for one more inning at just 88 pitches — 68 for strikes — but manager Dave Roberts went to Victor González in the eighth. Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save to complete the one-hitter.
Corey Seager drove in the only run with a two-out single in the third inning after AJ Pollock’s leadoff double. Those were the Dodgers’ only hits.
Seattle’s Chris Taylor was thrown out at home as a potential insurance run in the ninth inning. Taylor went on contact from Justin Turner and was easily thrown out by third baseman Kyle Seager.
“You’re going to have days like today where you don’t get any hits at all, you got to try to scratch out (a run),” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “We did have a couple opportunities there late, just couldn’t get much going offensively. But really you have to tip your hat to the pitching they threw at us today.”
The Mariners needed a good start from Gonzales (1-2) after burning through their bullpen in recent days. Seattle’s ace started the season with two poor outings, but seemed to rediscover a working formula last week against Baltimore.
Gonzales allowed two hits and struck out six. He retired the final 13 batters he faced following Seager’s RBI single in the third inning.
“You love the the tempo back and forth,” Gonzales said. “Julio was throwing the ball great, and, you know, just trying to go out there and match him every inning.”
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR RETURNS
Seattle welcomed back AL rookie of the year Kyle Lewis, who made his season debut after spending the first few weeks on the injured list with a bone bruise in his right knee suffered late in spring training.
Lewis walked in his first plate appearance of the season and was 0 for 3.
“I never take it for granted being able to play, and so anytime I’m able to run out there, put the uniform on is always special. And especially after being out for a little bit,” Lewis said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: Mookie Betts was out of the lineup after getting hit on the right forearm by a pitch a night earlier, but Roberts doesn’t expect it to be a long-term issue. Roberts said X-rays on Betts’ arm were negative.
Mariners: Ty France, who got hit on the right forearm by a pitch in Monday’s game, struck out as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning. … Seattle optioned OF Braden Bishop to its alternate training site to open a roster spot for Lewis.
“It’s been in Ohio as early as the mid-1850s at least, brought in as an ornamental plant because of its unique foliage and white flowers,” Gardner said. “It was actually planted in people’s landscaping, and it has been spreading.”
UP NEXT
Dodgers: Open a four-game series on Thursday against San Diego, with Walker Buehler (1-0, 2.00 ERA) on the mound. Buehler allowed two runs over six innings in a no-decision last week against the Padres.
Mariners: At Boston on Thursday, with Justin Dunn (1-0, 3.72) starting the opener. Dunn allowed one run on two hits over five innings in a win over Baltimore in his last start.