Dodgers’ Alex Wood finds his groove in 2-0 victory over Padres

Watching the baseball drop into Andre Ethier’s glove in right field, Alex Wood turned toward the Dodgers bench and shouted.

Wood punched his glove, then punched it again.

This was the kind of start Wood was looking to make. This was the kind of start he was gradually building toward since the Dodgers acquired him at the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline.

The routine catch by Ethier marked the final out recorded by Wood in a seven-inning tour de force Saturday night, a three-hit masterpiece that led the Dodgers to a 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

Wood had never completed seven innings in a Dodgers uniform.

“Anybody will tell you that as a starter, that’s what you pride yourself on, going deep into ballgames,” Wood said.

Two starts ago, Wood was visibly upset when Manager Don Mattingly removed him from a game with two outs in the sixth inning. Shortly after, Wood spoke to the manager.

Wood told Mattingly that when he pitched for the Atlanta Braves, he viewed himself as a workhorse. He asked Mattingly for the chance to make himself into one with the Dodgers, too.

“I think it was big for me to do that for him tonight,” Wood said. “I was glad I was able to show him tonight and reward him for having that faith in me.”

Wood was particularly efficient, throwing only 97 pitches.

He thought the most crucial moment of the game came in the sixth inning after he gave up a leadoff single to Matt Kemp with the Dodgers leading by only one run.

With the count full to Justin Upton, Wood picked off Kemp at first base. He struck out Upton with the next pitch.

“Really, you could go first and second no outs,” Wood said. “Instead, you get two outs in a matter of 30 seconds.”

Wood (8-6), who improved his record with the Dodgers to 3-3, credited his performance to catcher Yasmani Grandal.

“Tonight, we were on the same page for most of the night,” Wood said.

What Grandal did behind the plate made up for his continued offensive slump.

Grandal was 0 for 3, extending his hitless streak to 33 at-bats.

“He has the ability,” Mattingly said. “It’s there. It’s just finding it again.”

Grandal tried to do that by attempting to bunt for a single in the sixth inning. He was thrown out.

Grandal tried to bunt again in the eighth inning, this time with runners on second and third base. He popped up to catcher Austin Hedges in foul territory and slammed his bat in frustration.

Mattingly downplayed the possibility the All-Star catcher was injured or wearing down. Grandal was sidelined for four days last month after he was struck on a shoulder by a foul ball.

The Dodgers’ offense was produced almost entirely by Ethier, who didn’t start the first two games of the series because of a bruised knee.

By the second inning, Ethier made clear he was recovered enough to play.

He doubled, only to be stranded at third base when Jimmy Rollins grounded out with the bases loaded.

Ethier ended the bottom of the inning by making a diving catch in right field.

He doubled again in the fourth inning.

This time Ethier scored to move the Dodgers in front, 1-0, when his double was immediately followed by a ground-rule double by Carl Crawford.

That was the only run the Dodgers scored against starter Tyson Ross (10-10), who pitched six innings.

Of the three hits Ross gave up, three were by Ethier.

Ethier scored in the eighth inning, this time after leading off the inning by drawing a walk against Joaquin Benoit.

Ethier advanced to second base on a single by Crawford and scored on a one-out, broken-bat single to left field by Joc Pederson.

Up next

Left-hander Brett Anderson (8-8, 3.43 earned-run average) will face right-hander Andrew Cashner (5-13, 4.15) and the Padres on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Petco Park. TV: SportsNet LA; Radio: 570, 1020.