LOS ANGELES — 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 71/3 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. Although 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.

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