Dodgers’ Mike Bolsinger keeps the dream going in 2-0 win over Padres

And so it turns out the greatest off-season move by the Dodgers wasn’t that seven-player trade with the Marlins or the five-player deal with the Padres or picking up Howie Kendrick or Jimmy Rollins.

Nope, it should be absolutely clear by now, the best move made by everybody’s favorite Geek Squad was acquiring Mike Bolsinger from the Diamondbacks for … cash. When Bolsinger is picking up his Cy Young award in the winter, the Diamondbacks just may look back on that deal with a tinge of regret.

Right now, the Dodgers could not possibly be happier with the deal, with Bolsinger again “spinning” it like some kind of crossbreed of Sandy Koufax and Bert Blyleven in the Dodgers’ 2-0 victory over the Padres on Saturday before a Dodger Stadium crowd of 53,479.

All Bolsinger did was give up a single to San Diego leadoff hitter Yangervis Solarte in the first and then retire 23 consecutive batters. He threw a career-high eight innings and struck out a career-high eight without walking a man.

Bolsinger, who went 1-6 with a 5.50 ERA in 10 games for the Diamondbacks last season, is now 3-0 with a 0.71 ERA. This from a guy the Diamondbacks basically gave away.

He’d only thrown 92 pitches but the Dodgers called on Kenley Jansen to finish it off in the ninth. Jansen retired the Padres in order for his third save.

Bolsinger’s turnaround early on is looking like one for the ages. He’s 27 years old, a little late to suddenly reinvent yourself by learning to throw a curve at different speeds. Bolsinger never threw one pitch over 88 mph Saturday.

Joc Pederson, whose home run Friday beat the Padres, led off the bottom of the first with another homer. It was to almost the same spot where he hit his solo shot on Friday. Pederson leads the Dodgers with 12 home runs on the season.

The Dodgers added one more against Ian Kennedy in the sixth when Adrian Gonzalez singled with two outs and scored from first on a Justin Turner double, a rather remarkable feat for Gonzalez.

Kennedy (2-4) otherwise pitched well, allowing the two runs on six hits, just not well enough to beat Bolsinger. Kennedy did not walk a batter and struck out six.

The Padres have lost seven of their last eight games.