Kenley Jansen throws dominant 8th inning for Dodgers in season debut

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers reinstated closer Kenley Jansen from the 15-day disabled list before Friday night's 6-4 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Jansen, who had been out since just before spring training after undergoing surgery to remove a growth from his left foot, made quite the impact.

Jansen entered Friday's game with a two-run lead in the eighth inning and struck out four Rockies on 14 pitches.Carlos Gonzalez, the first of the four strikeouts, reached base on a passed ball by Yasmani Grandal.

"I didn't cross him up. It's just that my ball was supposed to go a different way on the two-seamer, so I just had to keep focused and try to get the next three outs," Jansen said. "It was an amazing inning. That won't happen that often."

Jansen was the first big leaguer to accomplish the feat since Arizona's Oliver Perez last Sept. 20 at Colorado. And it couldn't have come at a better time, after the Rockies scored four runs in the seventh against relievers Paco Rodriguez and Yimi Garcia.

"It felt great to come back and get that first one over with," Jansen said. "It's just a relief after 12 weeks. When I was warming up, I just treated it like it was the ninth."

His return is well-timed after a young Dodgers bullpen, which had pitched remarkably well in the first five weeks of the season, allowed late-inning runs in each of the past three games, leading to two losses.

"It's good from the standpoint of getting one of the best closers in baseball back and letting him start his season," manager Don Mattingly said.

Mattingly had said he would prefer to ease Jansen into lower-pressure situations initially but said he wouldn't rule out using him in a three-run save situation right away.

Jansen said it shouldn't take him long to get back into the traditional closer's role.

"I just need to pitch one inning," he said. "That will tell me if I'm ready for it, just to feel comfortable again, to feel that I can do that job."

Jansen, 27, missed the first 34 games after undergoing surgery on his left foot Feb. 17. He was 2-3 with a 2.76 ERA and 44 saves in 2014.

The Dodgers optioned left-hander Daniel Coulombe to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make room on the 25-man roster for Jansen.

The Dodgers were already without veteran relievers Brandon League and Joel Peralta, and they put hard-throwing right-hander Pedro Baez on the DL on Thursday because of a strained right pectoral muscle.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.