Recap: Dodgers Drop Padres Backed By Maeda’s Gem

The Dodgers and Padres were at it again in San Diego Wednesday night, with Kenta Maeda taking this hill for Los Angeles. Kenta did not disappoint the many Dodgers faithful on hand for this one, tossing yet another great game en route to a Dodgers’ win.

The Dodgers win, 4-2. They are 50-42. Kenta Maeda struck out nine fellows.

---

---

— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) July 12, 2018

Kenta came in riding one heck of a hot streak on the mound. He ended up tossing 5.2 innings of one-run ball on 92 pitches. He also allowed just four hits and one walk while striking out nine batters for the fourth consecutive game. Over his past nine starts, Maeda has an earned run average of 1.97 and a WHIP of 1.03. He has also held opposing hitters to a 179 batting average in 50.1 innings of work.

The Offense Was Not Quite Firing

Los Angeles scored four runs in this one, but it was a bit of an effort. They went 3-9 with runners in scoring position and left eleven men on base. This despite the fact that they scrapped together ten hits over the course of the game.

Matt Kemp came up with a few clutch hits of his own, with one of them driving in a run early on in the game. Kemp’s average is now sitting at 313 and he has driven in a staggering 59 runs this season. Max Muncy also had two base hits of his own, just a few hours removed from losing out in the All-Star game’s final vote. Muncy is hitting 276 on the season.

Other than that, the offense was fairly quiet. Chase Utley came on in the eighth and dropped in a double that he would eventually come around to score on. Chris Taylor provided that insurance run in what was previously a three to two game.

The Bullpen Was Great Again

The Dodgers bullpen continues to be surprisingly great. Scott Alexander came on for a one-pitch, one-out appearance retiring Hosmer on a groundball. Daniel Hudson gave up a solo shot the following inning, but he has still been dominant lately. Over his last sixteen appearances, he has tossed nineteen innings to the tune of a 0.95 earned run average.

Newcomer Dylan Floro threw in the eighth inning and was flawless. He struck out two and induced an easy pop out en route to his second perfect outing with Los Angeles. Floro has pitched 2.2 innings and has not allowed a single base runner.

Kenley Jansen came on to close out the ninth, and he got the job done despite missing his spots on nearly every pitch he threw. His velocity was also a bit concerning, as it sat in the lower 90’s like it did early in the year.

Looking Ahead

The recently named All-Star Ross Stripling will take the hill against San Diego tonight, looking to close out a winning road trip for Los Angeles. Stripling is coming off of a one-run over six inning performance against Anaheim last weekend. He struck out seven batters in that game and did not allow a walk. He will face off against Tyson Ross who is coming off a tough outing in Arizona. He allowed eight earned runs across just two innings en route to a 20-5 loss.