SAN DIEGO — Walker Buehler spent the better part of a decade making life difficult for the San Diego Padres. On Friday night at Petco Park, he turned that same competitive edge against his former employer.
Pitching for the first time against the Los Angeles Dodgers since joining San Diego, Buehler delivered a standout performance in the Padres’ 7-1 victory over the reigning World Series champions. He held the Dodgers to just three hits, struck out five, and surrendered only one run before being pulled in the sixth inning.
Despite the significance of the matchup, Buehler was quick to downplay any notion of a grudge against the team that helped make him a star.
“I have no bad blood against that organization,” Buehler said. “They treated me very well for a long time, and I think in some way, I did to them as well. My last pitch there was the last out of a World Series. I don’t really know how else I would have gone out any better than that. So yeah, I want to beat everyone, especially in the division, and especially a team that has been so successful against the organization I’m with now. I want to be a part of turning that around.”
Buehler earned two All-Star selections and two World Series rings during his time with Los Angeles. His final moment in Dodger Blue came in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, when he entered in relief and recorded the final out in the clinching win over the New York Yankees. Against the Padres specifically, he was nearly untouchable, posting a 6-1 record with a 1.80 ERA across 12 starts.
After injuries hampered his final seasons with the Dodgers and the team chose not to retain him, Buehler signed with the Boston Red Sox. His first outing against Los Angeles came last year at Fenway Park — a rough start that mirrored much of his difficult tenure in Boston. The Red Sox released him less than a month after that appearance. Following a brief stop in Philadelphia, he signed with San Diego last February.
“I think the first one in Boston was a lot bigger emotional load, for lack of a better word,” Buehler said. “It’s a team in our division. I’m going to have to pitch against them, and it was good to get the first one in this uniform at home, and we’ll see what happens on the road. I haven’t thrown at Dodger Stadium yet, which will be kind of a different thing, but (it’s) nice to have something to fall back on in terms of having some success.”
Now 31 years old and carrying two Tommy John surgeries in his past, Buehler has found renewed success in San Diego. He improved to 5-3 on the season and has given up just five runs over five June starts covering 26 1/3 innings. He has quietly become the most dependable arm in a rotation hit hard by injuries.
The Padres have managed Buehler carefully, keeping his workload in check. He has not yet recorded an out in the seventh inning this season, but he says San Diego’s strong bullpen has made that transition easier to accept.
“I think I’ve changed from trying to throw 120 pitches and owning the game to just kind of trying to get through the five, six innings and hand it off to our bullpen,” Buehler said. “Obviously we have a lot of super-talented guys back there, so I feel good about it.”
Friday’s exit after just 74 pitches still didn’t sit well with Buehler in the moment, but manager Craig Stammen said the pitcher has handled the new approach professionally. The bullpen backed him up with 3 2/3 scoreless innings, navigating two bases-loaded situations to preserve the win.
“In the moment, he likes to let me know he’s not happy on the mound,” Stammen said. “And then when I get back to the dugout, he’s already cooled off. So he’s handled it really well. He’s been a very professional pitcher in that regard. He knows that he’s pitching well and he can get a lot of guys out, but he also knows we’ve got a really good bullpen that can finish a game and get him a win.”
