His first two starts in his return from a second Tommy John surgery were a bit wobbly, but Walker Buehler, the notoriously demanding right-hander who can be as hard on himself as any major leaguer, didn’t seem to be growing overly impatient or frustrated with his performance, at least in the eyes of his manager.

“It takes time,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Buehler, the erstwhile ace who had gone almost 23 months between big-league starts before his May 6 return. “What his ceiling is, we’re going to find out, but to get back to that 2019 or 2020 Walker … I think he understands it’s going to be a process.”

That process was accelerated in a huge way on Saturday night when Buehler gave up just three hits over six scoreless innings, struck out seven and walked none in a 4-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds before a crowd of 49,239 in Dodger Stadium.

Roberts said before the game that Buehler, who was tagged for six earned runs and 11 hits, including three home runs, in 7 ⅓ innings of his first two starts against Miami and San Diego, needed to improve the command of all his pitches.

Buehler threw 55 of his 78 pitches for strikes and threw first-pitch strikes to 11 of 21 batters Saturday night. Though he induced only five swinging strikes, an indication he hasn’t quite recaptured his vintage 2019-2020 form, Buehler got 18 called strikes.

He used a knuckle-curve that averaged 78.5 mph to end three of his strikeouts, a slider that averaged 81.9 mph to end two of strikeouts and a fastball that averaged 94.9 mph and a cut-fastball that averaged 91.3 mph on his other two whiffs.

Michael Grove, a converted starter who has forged a higher-leverage role in the absence of injured closer Evan Phillips and setup men Joe Kelly and Ryan Brasier, struck out two of three batters in a scoreless seventh inning, and Daniel Hudson retired the side in order with a strikeout in the eighth.

Right-hander J.P. Feyereisen then retired the side in order in the ninth to seal the Dodgers’ 19th win in 25 games dating to April 21.

The Dodgers had only one hit in the first four innings against Reds starter Graham Ashcraft, but they forced the right-hander to throw 90 pitches in that span by working long at-bats and fouling off 21 pitches.

That one hit was a clutch one, an RBI single by rookie center fielder Andy Pages that highlighted a two-run fourth. Freddie Freeman opened the inning with a walk and took second on Teoscar Hernández’s one-out walk.

Pages grounded an RBI single to center field for a 1-0 lead, Hernández advancing to third and Pages taking second on the throw. Gavin Lux followed with a dribbler up the first-base line for a groundout that scored Pages for a 2-0 lead.

The Dodgers nearly gave half of that lead back in the top of the fifth after Jake Fraley’s catchable drive to the gap in deep left-center got by Pages and left fielder Miguel Vargas for a triple.

Pages appeared to call for the ball when he put his right arm out as headed toward the gap, but Vargas, a converted infielder who was making his 2024 Dodgers debut after being recalled from triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday, screened Pages when he cut in front of the center fielder in an attempt to make the catch.

The ball got by both outfielders, but Buehler escaped the runner-on-third, one-out jam by getting Jeimer Candelario to pop out to the catcher and Jonathan India to ground out to second.

The Dodgers pushed the lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth when Miguel Rojas lined a one-out double into the left-field corner and scored on Freeman’s two-out RBI single to center.

They tacked on an insurance run for a 4-0 lead in the eighth when Freeman led off with a double to right and scored on Teoscar Hernández’s one-out RBI single to right.

Rehab report

Bobby Miller, sidelined since April 14 because of shoulder inflammation, threw off the Dodger Stadium mound on Saturday. Roberts said the right-hander will throw a three-inning simulated game this week and, barring a setback, begin a minor league rehabilitation stint next week.

Closer Evan Phillips, who was placed on the 15-day injured list because of a right-hamstring strain on May 5, threw a full-effort 20-pitch bullpen workout on Saturday, and though the right-hander said he is “pain-free” and feeling “great,” Roberts said he is at least a week away from a return.

Clayton Kershaw, who hopes to return from shoulder surgery by late-July or early August, also threw off the stadium mound before Saturday night’s, spinning curveballs off a mound for the first time in his rehabilitation.

Betts breather

Mookie Betts was not in the lineup for the first time in 48 games Saturday night, Roberts saying he had planned earlier this week to give the shortstop and leadoff man a break.

“Mookie wants to play every day, but I just felt like with us in the middle of playing 13 games in a row, it’s a good time,” Roberts said. “Night game before a day game, we’ll let him re-charge his battery and get him back in there [Sunday.] I think it just keeps him strong and allows him to watch a baseball game.”