Buehler, Dodgers’ bullpen combine to no-hit Padres

MONTERREY, Mexico — The Dodgers have the most no-hitters in the majors — and now the most in Mexico, too.

Rookie Walker Buehler and a trio of Los Angeles relievers combined for the franchise’s 23rd no-hitter in a 4-0 victory over the San Diego Padres in the opener of a neutral-site series Friday night.

Mexico had waited since 1999 to host a regular-season big league game, and it got a historic one: the first no-hitter ever outside the U.S. or Canada and the 12th combined no-hitter in major league history.

“It was awesome,” Buehler said. “It’s one of those things, to pitch in a place like this, an atmosphere like this. It was awesome.”

A crowd of 21,536 at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey saw Buehler stay steady despite early rain. In just his third start in the majors, he went six innings before Tony Cingrani , Yimi Garcia and Adam Liberatore closed it out.

Buehler, a 23-year-old taken in the first round of the 2015 amateur draft, struck out eight and walked three. After 93 pitches, the highly touted right-hander was pulled. Cingrani walked two in the seventh, but the lefty kept the bid intact.

“It*s probably one of the toughest conversations I ever had, I wanted to keep going,” Buehler said. “But they made the choice and the guys finished out and it was cool.”

Buehler overcame wet conditions — the hardest rain fell in the second inning.

“I threw one in high school, but I gave up two runs in the first inning, so that one doesn’t really count,” Buehler said.

Garcia struck out two in a perfect eighth and Liberatore threw a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out Franchy Cordero to end it with the Dodgers’ 146th pitch.

That ended a festive night that began with a ceremonial first pitch thrown by Dodgers great Fernando Valenzuela , who became a star in the U.S. and Mexico and set off “Fernandomania” when he became a fan favorite in the 1980s.

Valenzuela pitched a no-hitter against St. Louis at Dodger Stadium on June 29, 1990, the same night Oakland’s Dave Stewart pitched a no-hitter at Toronto — one of five in Canada, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Dodgers threw this no-hitter on the same night Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels got his 3,000th hit in a game at Seattle.