LOS ANGELES -- Rich Hill's season debut came with some twists and turns. Or something like that.

"It was dodge, duck and dive," he said.

Yasiel Puig homered and Hill threw five strong innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 on Wednesday night.

The Dodgers got an RBI double from Adrian Gonzalez to go with an unearned run as they rebounded from being blanked by the Padres in the previous game.

Hill was active and not just when releasing the ball. He was plucked by a pitch by Trevor Cahill -- the first of Hill's career -- and then just avoided a shot through the box by Wil Myers.

Hill (1-0) surrendered one run on two hits and three walks, with five strikeouts. The southpaw, who signed a three-year, $48 million contract to return to L.A. in the offseason, has won four of his six Dodgers' starts. The 14-year veteran came to the Dodgers in August from the Oakland A's in a five-player deal.

"The defense was awesome and the guys hit the ball," Hill said.

He was lifted after 75 pitches, which was fine with Hill.

"It is still early on and we're going in the right direction," Hill said. "I've made a few mechanical adjustments, and I feel good about that moving forward."

Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his first save of the season.

Cahill (0-1), in his Padres debut, worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (one unearned) on five hits. He walked three, with seven strikeouts. It was Cahill's second start in his last 51 outings.

"All in all, I thought he was pretty doggone good today," Padres manager Andy Green said. "His curveball was as good as I've seen it. It was a really good game for us. You saw the plus-stuff."

The Padres, who had only three hits, brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth after Travis Jankowski walked. But Manuel Margot and Myers both flied out.

Puig lofted a two-out home run midway up the left-field seats in the fourth inning, extending the Dodgers' edge to 3-1. It was Puig's first of the year, and the reason he connected was simple.

"Swing at the right balls," Puig said. "I'm going to try and do my job."

Cahill said, "That one to Puig, being ahead in the count, will be the one that haunts me the most. Right out of the hand I was, 'Uh-oh.' I knew it was not going to be good."

Rookie Hunter Renfroe smashed his initial homer of the season, pulling the Padres to within 2-1 in the fourth. Renfroe, the Pacific Coast League MVP last year, crushed a 74 mph Hill offering, with the ball redirected at 106 mph.

"I left it up a little bit," Hill said. "He did a great job of putting the bat on the ball."

"The key to him is staying in the strike zone," Green said. "When he does that, you can see what he can do. It's tough to hit the ball out of here sometimes."

The Dodgers had a scare in the second when the left-handed Hill was struck on his right hand by a Cahill pitch. But Hill was able to stay in the game.

The Dodgers struck fast in the first to take a 2-0 lead one night after being shut out by the Padres.

Adrian Gonzalez's two-out, slicing double down the left-field line scored Corey Seager, who was aboard on a double. The Dodgers added another run when Myers misplayed third baseman Ryan Schimpf's throw on Logan Forsythe's grounder, which allowed Gonzalez to score.

"There wasn't much to that," Green said of Myers whiffing on the catch. "That was one of those fluke things that happens from time to time."

NOTES: The Padres outrighted LHP Keith Hessler to Triple-A El Paso and RHP Cesar Vargas to Double-A San Antonio. ... LHP Christian Friedrich, who opened the season on the DL with a sore shoulder, now has elbow issues. ... Randy Jones, a one-time Cy Young Award winner with the Padres, will throw out the first ball at their home opener on Friday against the San Francisco Giants. Jones is battling throat cancer. ... Dodgers OF Andre Ethier (back) remains out and there is no timetable for his return to baseball activities. ... LHP Rich Hill had X-rays on his right hand after being struck by a pitch. They were negative.