Lilly retires 19 straight to win fourth consecutive start as Dodgers down Rockies 2-0

Lilly retires 19 in row in Dodgers’ 2-0 win

LOS ANGELES — Ted Lilly threw a two-hitter to win his fourth straight start since joining the Dodgers, and Reed Johnson hit his first homer of the season in a 2-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night.

Lilly (7-8) had a season-high 11 strikeouts, walked two and retired 19 consecutive batters in his third career shutout. He threw 110 pitches.

Colorado’s Dexter Fowler lined a double past third baseman Casey Blake and down the left field line with one out in the first and the Rockies didn’t get another hit until Troy Tulowitzki grounded a single through the middle with two out in the seventh.

Jorge De La Rosa (4-4) allowed two runs, five hits and four walks over seven innings for Colorado.

Lilly, who came to Los Angeles from the Chicago Cubs just before the non-waiver trade deadline along with second baseman Ryan Theriot, retired his final 20 batters in his Dodgers debut on Aug. 3 at Chavez Ravine when he pitched seven innings of two-hit ball in a 2-1 victory.

The complete game shutout was the Dodgers’ third this season, including one each by Chad Billingsley and Vicente Padilla.

The Rockies’ frustration boiled over in the eighth, when Miguel Olivo was ejected by umpire Laz Diaz for arguing a called third strike and slamming his bat with both hands. Manager Jim Tracy came out and acted as a shield between Olivo and Diaz, but was not ejected.

Lilly’s complete game was his fifth in 277 career starts and first in 174 starts since Aug. 23, 2004, when he beat Boston 3-0 at Toronto’s SkyDome with a three-hitter and a career-high 13 strikeouts.

The 34-year-old left-hander has a 1.29 ERA since joining the Dodgers.

Johnson, who was thrown out at the plate in the 10th inning Wednesday night for the final out of the Dodgers’ 3-2 loss, gave Los Angeles 2-0 lead in the second when he drove De La Rosa’s 2-2 pitch into the left field pavilion after a walk to Blake. The homer was his first since June 19, 2009 for the Cubs against Cleveland and Cliff Lee.

Johnson started in right field to give Andre Ethier a day off.

NOTES: The Dodgers placed RHP Vicente Padilla on the 15-day disabled list because of a bulging disc in his neck. Padilla, 32, has given up 12 runs, 14 hits, two homers and four walks in 9 1-3 innings since August 4. … Todd Helton was 0 for 2 with a walk, and is 1 for 29 against Dodgers pitching through the first nine meetings. He came into this season batting .294 against them with 38 homers and 122 RBIs. … Johnson, who hit a career-high 12 home runs for Toronto in 2006, signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in February after spending the previous two seasons with the Cubs.