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Spence strikes out Miles to end the threat

SAN DIEGO -- It's not like Padres closer Heath Bell really needs to test his memory too hard by trying to remember the day fellow reliever Josh Spence made his Major League debut.

"He was so nervous, he was shaking," Bell said.

What does Bell think of the 23-year-old Spence now, especially after the mess he worked out of in the Padres' 3-0 victory over the Dodgers on Wednesday at PETCO Park?

"Now he's calm and cool, like an iceberg," Bell said, grinning.

Spence, barely a year removed from his professional debut, struck out Aaron Miles with the bases loaded in the seventh inning to preserve a 1-0 lead and yet another strong start by Tim Stauffer (7-8), who tossed 6 1/3 outstanding innings.

"He's shown that. I think he understands how he gets people out," Padres manager Bud Black said of Spence, who made his Padres debut on June 24, 2010. "He knows his game, and that's one of the things our Minor League people have told us the last couple of years -- he remains poised, he's a clear thinker. He throws strikes."

Spence, who has allowed one run in 22 appearances, certainly needed to in that seventh inning.

Stauffer, who lost his last two starts, coasted through his first five innings, yielding four hits while retiring nine consecutive hitters at one point.

"I felt good. I felt like I was able to command, really all my pitches tonight," Stauffer said. "Got ahead early, and forced them to put the ball in play early."

Stauffer, who lowered his ERA to 2.96, ran into a big jam in the seventh inning, when he allowed a leadoff single to Dioner Navarro. That was followed by a bunt single by Tony Gwynn, the former Padres outfielder and the son of the Hall of Famer by the same name.

Jamey Carroll moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. The game then essentially became a chess match. The Dodgers (50-60) sent left-handed-hitting James Loney into the on-deck circle, and Black went to his bullpen for Spence, a left-hander.

"That was a tough call," Black said. "Very rarely, you guys know, do I take a pitcher out of a game when he has a shutout, especially where his pitch count was.

"It was one of those decisions where, second and third and one out, I felt as though, with Loney, if they let Loney face Josh, I felt that that was a better matchup."

Only Dodgers manager Don Mattingly called Loney back and sent right-handed-hitting Casey Blake to the plate. Spence walked Blake intentionally to load the bases. Dee Gordon followed and lined a ball up the middle that Spence caught for the second out.

Then, facing Miles, Spence got ahead with two strikes before throwing three consecutive balls. Miles fouled off two pitches before passing on a slider that appeared to catch just a small part of the plate for an inning-ending strikeout.

"I saw a backdoor slider," Black said. "It caught the plate."

Spence said it was the right pitch at the right time.

"Honestly, I have confidence in all my pitches," said Spence, who a year ago at this time was pitching for Fort Wayne of the Midwest League. "But that was the pitch I needed to throw there."

The Padres, who got a baserunner to third base in each of the first two innings, didn't get a run off Dodgers starting pitcher Ted Lilly (7-11) until the sixth, when Jason Bartlett began the inning with a home run to left field, his second of the season.

"We've played this game before. This was kind of one of our games, last night was one of our games," Mattingly said. "We got chances and didn't take advantage and we struggled to score."

San Diego added an insurance run in the seventh inning, when Aaron Cunningham had a triple to right-center field and scored when rookie shortstop Gordon, playing in for a play at the plate, couldn't handle a hot shot by Luis Martinez.

Finally, the Padres added a third run in the eighth inning when Bartlett reached base on a single, his third hit of the game, and scored two batters later when Jesus Guzman singled down the third-base line for his 22nd RBI in 35 games.

Bell worked a scoreless ninth inning for his 31st save of the season.

The Padres (48-59) have an off-day Thursday before opening a 10-game, three-city road trip on Friday in Pittsburgh.

Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. Keep track of @FollowThePadres on Twitter. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.