Alex Wood, Andre Ethier lead Dodgers over Padres

Alex Wood pitched his best game with the Dodgers, and perhaps more importantly was allowed to do so, in a 2-0 win over the Padres on Saturday night at Petco Park in San Diego.

With the win, the Dodgers remained 7½ games ahead of San Francisco in the National League West, with a magic number to clinch the division of 20.

Wood pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing only three singles while working around four walks, with four strikeouts. The left-hander threw 97 pitches and induced nine ground ball outs compared to four fly outs.

After getting pulled mid-inning with low pitch counts of 82, 82 and 88 pitches, Wood was allowed to complete six innings in his last start. On Saturday, he allowed a lead off single in the sixth inning, and a leadoff walk in the seventh, the latter advancing into scoring position.

But Wood was allowed to stay in the game each time despite a slim 1-0 lead, ultimately getting the switch-hitting Yangervis Solarte to fly to right field to end the seventh inning with two runners on.

The Dodgers on offense on Saturday were paced by the outfield.

Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford hit back-to-back doubles to open the fourth inning, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

The game stayed that way until the eighth, when Ethier walked, Crawford singled, then one out later Joc Pederson singled to left field for an insurance run and a 2-0 lead.

Ethier, getting his first plate appearance since fouling a ball off his right knee on Wednesday, went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a walk on Saturday, and scored both Dodgers runs.

Crawford's two hits extended his streak to five straight starts with a hit, including four multi-hit games during that span. Pederson walked twice in addition to his RBI single.

Chris Hatcher pitched a perfect eighth inning with one strikeouts, then Kenley Jansen competed the ninth for his 29th save of the season.

The Dodgers' 19 shutout wins in 2015 are the most in baseball, three more than San Francisco.

Up next

The Dodgers send Brett Anderson to the hill on Sunday afternoon going for a sixth straight series win over San Diego, with Andrew Cashner starting for the Padres.

Saturday particulars

Home runs: none

WP - Alex Wood (10-9): 7 IP, 3, hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts

LP - Tyson Ross (10-10): 6 IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts

Sv - Kenley Jansen (29): 1 IP, 1 strikeout