LOS ANGELES ― The clock above the doorway leading to the Dodgers’ clubhouse read 2:59 when Dustin May walked in Saturday afternoon. His long red locks of hair flowed from a white cowboy hat. A diamond-studded necklace accentuated a black T-shirt. Blue jeans, cowboy boots and a gray backpack completed the look of a 24-year-old eager to feel like a Major League Baseball player again.

May needed no time to find a hook in his locker for his cowboy hat. But he needed an inning to find himself in the Dodgers’ 7-0 win over the Miami Marlins before an announced crowd of 51,813 at Dodger Stadium.

Making his first start for the Dodgers since undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow last year, May let the Marlins load the bases in the first inning via a single and two walks. Then he retired the next 13 batters in a row in one of the most dominant performances by a Dodger pitcher this season.

“I just decided to throw strikes instead of balls, let the hitters make mistakes instead of me,” May said. “That’s the biggest thing for me: not trying to do too much and put it in the zone.”

The 24-year-old right-hander needed a deep breath and a look around Dodger Stadium before throwing his first pitch. Then he needed 71 pitches to complete five shutout innings.

“It had been a minute for me,” May said. “It was long-awaited for me.”

It was an encouraging performance for May ― and for the Dodgers. Since it was announced that right-hander Walker Buehler would undergo season-ending elbow surgery Tuesday, the team was left to navigate the rest of the 2022 season without its most talented starting pitcher.

If his comeback performance Saturday was at all predictive, May might be just what the Dodgers need to make do without their ace. Manager Dave Roberts said May’s electric combination of a fastball, sinker, curveball and cutter looked no worse for going 15 months between major league starts.

“He struck a guy out to end the … fourth inning with a slider and he was upset, you know, thinking that’s the pitch that should be there all the time,” Roberts said of May. “And he’s his toughest critic. But taking everything into account, I think that we were all pleased.”

Of May’s 71 pitches, 29 ended in a called strike or a swing and a miss. Only two Dodger pitchers have had a higher percentage of called strikes and swinging strikes in a start this season: Clayton Kershaw, when he threw seven perfect innings in Minnesota on April 13, and Tony Gonsolin in a 5-1 win over the San Diego Padres on July 1.

A three-run home run by Will Smith in the first inning, and a three-run home run by Justin Turner in the third inning, powered the Dodgers’ offense.

Miami scratched its scheduled starter, Braxton Garrett, with an oblique injury when the left-hander arrived at the ballpark Saturday. Right-hander Bryan Hoeing made the start instead, drawing a tough assignment for his major league debut.

It didn’t go well for the former Louisville standout, who was charged with seven earned runs in three innings. Roberts elected not to shuffle his lineup after learning a few hours before game time that a right-handed pitcher was getting the start. The decision paid off.

Related Articles

The Dodgers collected 12 hits in all, as each of their starting position players reached base at least once. Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner each had two hits, adding to their MLB-leading total of 148.

Caleb Ferguson, Chris Martin and Phil Bickford combined to throw four scoreless innings in relief of May.

The Dodgers (82-36) can sweep the three-game series Sunday. Miami (52-67) will send All-Star Sandy Alcantara to the mound.

Considering May allowed just four runs in six minor league rehab starts, perhaps the outcome Saturday was no surprise.

“It’s super exciting to know I’m back, and I can go get guys out when I need to,” May said. “It was super exciting to know I can get out of a jam when I put myself into one. That was super-huge for the confidence boost. Gotta build off this one.”