Breathing Room

Greg Maddux must be saving his no-hitter for the playoffs.

The Dodgers took a huge step toward October on Friday, with Maddux carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning of a 3-1 victory over the San Diego Padres. He might never throw 100 pitches for the Dodgers, but no one cares if he can beat San Diego.

And he did, with the Dodgers jumping 1 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Padres in the National League West. For the first time in six games at Dodger Stadium this year, and the fourth time in 15 games against the Dodgers anywhere, the Padres lost.

“The season series is behind us,” Manager Grady Little said. “It’s all about this weekend and the 12 games that follow that.”

Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito finished the two-hitter, and Julio Lugo had three hits, but the undisputed star was Maddux.

“You just tip your cap,” Padres Manager Bruce Bochy said. “It was vintage Maddux.”

For the third time in nine starts since joining the Dodgers, Maddux had the stuff of which no-hitters are made. In his first start, he had a no-hitter for six innings but did not return following a rain delay. In his third start, he gave up two hits in the first inning, followed by seven no-hit innings.

On Friday, when defeat would have dropped the Dodgers out of first place for the first time since Aug. 9, Maddux sparkled. When Brian Giles broke up the no-hitter, with one out in the seventh inning, the crowd rewarded Maddux with a long standing ovation, long enough that Maddux had to step behind the pitching rubber and tip his cap before the fans would sit down.

When they did, Mike Piazza grounded into a double play. And, after 68 pitches, Maddux was done.

Seven shutout innings, one hit, thank you very much.

“He had had it,” Little said, “and he let us know he had had it.”

Maddux said he “got lucky” on what he considered a poor pitch to Piazza and sensed his command starting to betray him. “Mentally, I was getting tired,” he said.

If the no-hitter were intact, would Maddux have continued?

“I don’t know,” Maddux said. “Good question. Probably. Maybe.”

The Dodgers are cautious with Maddux, protecting him now and worrying about whether he can throw 100 pitches later. With the Dodgers, the 40-year-old Maddux has thrown no more than 90 pitches and averaged 76. In his 22 starts with the Chicago Cubs, he threw more than 90 seven times and averaged 86.

“He’s thrown a lot of pitches already this season,” Little said. “We can ill afford to lose his arm.”

For all the trades Ned Colletti has made this season, the one he did not make could have been the one that haunted him. In August, with the Dodgers desperate for another starter, the Boston Red Sox dangled David Wells, but Colletti wouldn’t trade a premium prospect to get him. So the Red Sox shipped him to the Padres, the team chasing the Dodgers.

So far, so good. Hong-Chih Kuo won his first major league start. So did Eric Stults. Chad Billingsley returns today, with the Dodgers still in first place.

And Wells, in his only chance to beat the Dodgers, did not. The Dodgers did not crush Wells, but with two out in the fourth inning, Jeff Kent walked. J.D. Drew doubled him home, and Lugo singled Drew home. They added an unearned run in the eighth inning, on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz.

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com

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Down the stretch

*--* WEST DIVISION

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*--* NL WILD CARD

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The National League West Division and wild-card races:

*--* W L Pct GB Dodgers 78 69 531 -- San Diego 76 70 521 1 1/2 San Francisco 74 73 503 4

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*--* W L Pct GB San Diego 76 70 521 -- Philadelphia 75 72 510 1 1/2 Florida 74 73 503 2 1/2 San Francisco 74 73 503 2 1/2

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