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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nothing was routine for Bud Norris in his first start for the Dodgers. New time zone. New uniform. Being penciled into Clayton Kershaw's place in the Los Angeles rotation.
It all added up to a whirlwind experience.
Norris pitched six strong innings while filling in for the injured Kershaw, leading the Dodgers to a 5-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night.
"I didn't know what to expect. I just went out there and tried to put up as many zeros as I could," said Norris, who arrived at Dodger Stadium four hours before the game. "I would like to pitch deeper into games but it was a short week for me, no pen, the travel."
Norris was told by the Braves he was traded to Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, caught a plane that night, and got just a few hours of sleep after reaching Los Angeles. After a quick meal and a nap, it was off to the ballpark and a new uniform.
"I got traded to Baltimore and I changed dugouts, that's how quick it was for me last time so it's kind of a whirlwind thing," Norris said. "I've just got to be ready to pitch."
Norris (4-7) overpowered Colorado from the start, striking out seven of the first 14 hitters.
"I was expecting more balls in play on the ground, but he's still got velocity," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "He was staying ahead of guys tonight. I've seen him really good and tonight it was evident."
The right-hander held the Rockies to a single and a double, and finished with eight strikeouts, pitching for a team he grew up rooting against. Raised north of San Francisco, Norris said, "I'm a Bay Area kid. This is going to kill my dad."
Colorado got a runner to second only twice against Norris. The closest the Rockies came to scoring against him may have been a fifth-inning fly ball hit by Brandon Barnes that Dodgers center fielder Trace Thompson caught at shoulder level against the wall to end the inning.
"We had a hard time getting anything going against him," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "He was in complete control for sure. The cutter, slider, whatever you want to call it, was a good pitch for him. The velocity is still there. He was running it up to 96 at times. He did a nice job."
Adam Liberatore, Louis Coleman, Joe Blanton and Pedro Baez completed the shutout as the Dodgers won their third straight. Adrian Gonzalez added a pair of run-scoring singles, reaching safely for the 11th time in 14 games.
Roberts decided to pinch-hit for Yasiel Puig in the eighth, one inning after Puig was thrown out at home by Brandon Barnes when he tried to score on a fly ball hit by Thompson.
"Yasiel has something going on with his trap when he slide in at home tonight," Roberts said. "He'll be out there tomorrow, but the way the game was going it was his left shoulder and I wanted to get him out of there."
Jorge de la Rosa (5-5) gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings, and snapped a personal four-game winning streak.
In his last five starts with the Braves, Norris went 2-1 with a 2.15 ERA, striking out 29 in 29 1/3 innings.
Gonzalez's one-out RBI single in the fourth gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead.
The Dodgers scored in the seventh on a balk called on de la Rosa.
Gonzalez had added another RBI single in the Dodgers' three-run eighth, with Howie Kendrick and Scott Van Slyke driving in the other two runs.
Kershaw was officially placed on the DL before the game with mild disc herniation in his back, and was reported to be feeling "considerably better" after undergoing an epidural the previous day.
HITTING STREAKS
Dodgers SS Corey Seager and Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado brought the National League's two longest hitting streaks into the game. Seager extended his streak to 14 games with a single in the fourth inning, and also had a single in the eighth. Arenado had his streak end at 12, going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rockies: Neither 2B DJ LeMahieu nor SS Trevor Story — the Rockies' starting middle infield — were in the lineup, but were available to pinch-hit, Weiss said. ... Rockies closer Jake McGee, out since June 10, could be activated from the disabled list on Saturday. McGee converted 14 of 17 save opportunities before being sidelined with left knee inflammation.
Dodgers: RHP Brandon McCarthy will make his 2016 debut for the Dodgers on Sunday, his first start in 14 months. McCarthy last pitched in a major-league game on April 25, 2015. Five days later he underwent surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. ... OF Joc Pederson, who received a cortisone shot on Friday in his injured shoulder, was also placed on the DL before the game, giving the Dodgers a major league-leading 19 players to be placed on the disabled list this season.
NEXT UP
Rockies: RHP Chad Bettis (6-5, 5.84) makes his seventh appearance — and fourth start — against the Dodgers. He is 0-0 with a 4.58 ERA against them.
Dodgers: LHP Scott Kazmir (6-3, 4.67) is unbeaten in his last nine starts, going 4-0 with a 4.03 ERA since May 14.
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