One night after Julio Urias tossed six no-hit innings, Kenta Maeda went 8.1 innings in what was the longest outing of his MLB career and though he fell short of a complete game or shutout effort, the Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 5-2 victory.
Maeda had previously thrown seven innings three times in his MLB career, though none of those instances were scoreless efforts. Prior to Wednesday, he’d never exceeded seven innings in a start for the Dodgers.
Josh Harrison led off the game with a double, advanced to third base on a fly ball to deep center field, but was then stranded. Chad Kuhl struck out Joc Pederson and Corey Seager, only for a walk of Justin Turner to lead to a world of trouble.
In his second game batting cleanup, Cody Bellinger went opposite field for a two-run home run. Bellinger’s sixth home run tied him with Yasiel Puig for the team lead.
Yasmani Grandal kept the inning alive with a base hit to left field, Chris Tyalor worked a walk, and Chase Utley’s RBI single padded the Dodgers’ lead. A Puig leadoff single in the bottom of the second was erased two batters later on a terrific inning-ending double play.
Harrison improved to 2-for-2 on the night with a base hit in the third, though he once again was stranded. Utley added to his night in the fourth inning, hitting a double that scored Taylor from first base and extended the Dodgers’ lead to 4-0.
Kuhl’s night was done after five innings, and four runs allowed on six hits.
Utley also contributed in the field in what was his first start this season at first base. A Jose Osuna grounder to first hit the bag and caromed over Utley’s right shoulder. He quickly spun to retrieve the ball and tossed to Maeda in time for the out.
Francisco Cervelli’s two-out single in the sixth snapped Maeda’s streak of nine consecutive batters retired. He more than responded by retiring seven in a row to reach the ninth inning.
While Maeda began the inning at 89 pitches, flirting with a ‘Maddux’ (complete game on fewer than 100 pitches) and at minimum a complete-game shutout, none of it came to fruition. Harrison’s leadoff single was followed by a Cervelli two-run homer.
The duo was responsible for all five of the Pirates’ hits. Maeda struck out Andrew McCutchen, then gave way to Grant Dayton. The left-handed reliever finished out the game to lift the Dodgers a season-best five-game winning streak.
The Dodgers’ last bit of scoring on the ninth came via a Grandal RBI double. The hit was Grandal’s third of the game, and gave him a third three-hit performance in his last seven games.
