Walker Buehler toughs it out in Game 1 despite nasty blister

Walker Buehler didn’t let the blister on his pitching hand affect his performance in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Padres on Tuesday

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler wasn’t about to use the nasty blister on his right index finger as an excuse and pitched like he wasn’t bothered by it on Tuesday.

Buehler went four strong innings in Game 1 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres in Arlington, allowing only two hits and striking out eight but also issuing a season-high four walks. He left the game after the top half of the fourth with 95 pitches (another season-high).

Buehler’s job against the Padres was to keep the Dodgers in the game, and he did just that. Faced with a bases-loaded jam with one out in the second inning, he struck out Jurickson Profar with a 97-mph high fastball and Trent Grisham with a 98-mph fastball to escape unscathed. He threw as hard as 99 mph with his 64 fastballs, none of them slower than 96 mph.

The Padres finally managed to get to him in the fourth after Wil Myers drew a one-out walk, stole second, and came home on Austin Nola’s single to left on a 0-2 fastball with two outs. Buehler retired the next batter to get out of the inning before being lifted for Dustin May, leaving the game facing a 1-0 deficit.

Before the game, Buehler said he expected to be the same pitcher he was before suffering the blister that kept him out for two starts in September. “I’m just trying to not worry about it too much. Same routine. I expect to be myself, regardless of it,” he said on Monday, according to MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick.

“That’s just kind of how I operate. It is what it is. It’s something we’ve got to deal with and I’ve got to deal with. At the end of the day, my job is to perform, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

He did a good job of competing on Tuesday. Buehler is the first pitcher in postseason history with eight or more strikeouts in a start of four or fewer innings, something he also did in his Wild Card round start against the Milwaukee Brewers. He also joins Randy Johnson as the only pitchers with at least seven strikeouts in eight straight postseason starts.

But he also struggled with his control. His 95 pitches were the most by a starter in a postseason game without reaching the fifth inning since teammate Clayton Kershaw in the 2013 NLCS. Of the 18 Padres he faced, nine of them worked a full count.

The Dodgers aren’t faring as well offensively. They’re still looking for their first hit of the game despite Padres starter Mike Clevinger having to leave the game in the second inning.