Minor league strikeout rate leader Kyle Hurt debuts for Dodgers

Kyle Hurt made his major league debut with two perfect innings of relief for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who promoted the hard-throwing San Diego County native and USC product before Tuesday night's game against the Padres.

Hurt, 25, retired Fernando Tatís Jr., Juan Soto and Manny Machado in order on nine pitches in the eighth inning before striking out the side in the ninth, showing a 98 mph fastball. The Dodgers won 11-2.

Hurt didn't get to Dodger Stadium until 25 minutes before first pitch, thanks to a late-night call-up, a long flight and L.A. traffic. His girlfriend, parents and plenty of friends made it to Chavez Ravine to see his 24-pitch gem.

"Every single guy in the bullpen that talked to me during the game, they just said, 'Be yourself, don't change a thing,'" Hurt said. "And that's what I did. ... I've been talking with my buddies for a long time about this, and my family. It's just so cool to be a part of it."

The minor league leader in strikeout rate, Hurt had 145 strikeouts in 88 innings between Double-A and Triple-A this season and mixes a high-90s fastball with three other swing-and-miss pitches. He joins a Dodgers relief corps that has weathered injuries to put up the second-best ERA in the National League behind Atlanta.

In related roster moves, the Dodgers optioned left-hander Victor Gonzalez to Triple-A Oklahoma City and placed right-hander Gus Varland on the 60-day injured list.

The Dodgers acquired Hurt and left-hander Alex Vesia in an early 2021 trade with Miami for right-hander Dylan Floro. Miami had selected him in the fifth round of the shortened 2020 draft out of USC, where his size (6-foot-3, 240 pounds) and stuff were ahead of his production.

Hurt emerged as a prospect last year and accelerated significantly this season, striking out 110 in 65 innings before his promotion to Triple-A Oklahoma City. In six outings there, he has struck out 35 in 23 innings with a 3.09 ERA -- with five of those appearances coming out of the bullpen.

Despite injuries that have Daniel Hudson, Blake Treinen, Joe Kelly, Yency Almonte, J.P. Feyereisen, Alex Reyes and others on the IL, the first-place Dodgers have cobbled together a top-performing group of relievers that has maintained its excellence into September, where it has a 2.89 ERA.

Former Red Sox right-hander Ryan Brasier, who signed a minor league deal with Los Angeles in June, has allowed one run in 24 second-half innings, and Brusdar Graterol, the hard-throwing righty, has yielded one in 21.

Their performances, along with closer Evan Phillips, stabilized a bullpen whose importance is that much more acute with left-handed starter Julio Urias on administrative leave after a domestic violence arrest, right-handed starter Walker Buehler cutting short his attempt to return from Tommy John surgery this season and a rotation that consists of veterans Clayton Kershaw and Lance Lynn, plus a group of young right-handers that includes Bobby Miller and Ryan Pepiot.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.