LOS ANGELES – The last two times the Dodgers captured the National League West in front of the fans at Dodger Stadium, Walker Buehler started the game. Thursday night wasn’t the same version as the up-and-coming star of six years earlier, but he did what was needed in another big game.

“He threw really well,” said his catcher Will Smith. “He really got going and gave us five really strong innings. That was great to see.”

“Watching Walker tonight was reminiscent of many big games we’ve seen him play in this stadium,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.

It’s been a tough year for Buehler as he returned from his second Tommy John surgery and repair of the flexor tendon in his right elbow starting in August 2022. Command and control was lacking and he had to figure out how to deploy this new version of himself.

He’s not the same pitcher who posted a 2.94 ERA in 15 postseason starts from 2018-21. This year’s numbers bear that out, with a 5.38 ERA in 16 starts and a strikeout rate of less than 20 percent (18.6 percent).

But he’s shown some encouraging signs lately, including pitching three straight in the sixth inning before his five-inning stretch on Thursday, allowing just one run. Before that, he struck out nine batters in the start.

“The arrow points upwards all year round. At first he was a little unsure. The stuff was there, but it’s the execution that matters,” Friedman said. “What we’ve known all along is that now that we know more, he doesn’t shy away from the moment, he’s not afraid of anything, and he goes out and competes. He showed us that tonight.”

On Thursday, he allowed five hits, one of which was a double to Kyle Higashioka, who put two runners in scoring position in the fifth inning. A ground ball scored the lone run against Buehler. He was pulled after just 71 pitches, even though he had four days’ rest in 27 months in his first start. Buehler and manager Dave Roberts had an animated discussion in the dugout in the bottom of the fifth.

“We were just talking about his stuff. He already knew he was going to come out of the game,” Roberts said. “Just what worked tonight, how good he felt. I was really encouraged because now I see real confidence in him.

Confidence is the name of the game for Buehler, who is likely the third starter in a depleted Dodgers rotation heading into October.

In five career games with a chance to reach the division or a playoff series, Buehler has allowed three runs in 30 innings, with 29 strikeouts. That included throwing scoreless baseball into the seventh inning in Game 163 in 2018, the last time before this year the Dodgers clinched a division in front of Dodger Stadium fans.

“He threw great, he threw great. We needed him. He stepped up, got the ball and did a great job and gave us a chance to win,” said Mookie Betts, who had two hits, including a two-run single in the decisive seventh inning. “Walker has been great, and he knows we need him down the stretch.”