After taking three of four from the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers looked to continue generating momentum as their homestand continued with a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants.
Kenta Maeda took the mound Monday night 4-1 with a 2.35 ERA when facing the Giants at Dodger Stadium. However, he struggled early and the Dodgers ultimately fell into a deficit they were unable to overcome in a 3-2 loss.
Maede’s trouble can be directly traced to the second inning, when a leadoff walk and single put runners at the corners. Brandon Crawford followed with a two-run double off the base of the wall in right field before Maeda could record an out.
To his credit, Maeda settled in from there, retiring 12 of the final 13 batters faced to get through five innings. His night included being struck by a comeback, which prompted the Dodgers to send him for an x-ray that came negative, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
X-rays on Maeda’s right hand negative after comebacker hit him.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) June 18, 2019
Upon first view, Evan Longoria’s chopper back to the box appeared to catch Maeda on his right hip or wrist/elbow area. He made the play for the out and was checked on by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and a trainer. Maeda threw a warm-up pitch before remaining in the game.
He finished with just the two runs allowed on three hits and two walks, to go along with four strikeouts. After going 17.2 innings across three starts without a walk, he’s issued at least one in his past three outings.
Although he seemingly avoided injury, it would not come as much of a surprise if the Dodgers are to err on the side of caution and place the 31-year-old on the 10-day injured list. They have already done so once this season, when Maeda suffered a left adductor contusion.
It was the result of fouling a pitch off, though Maeda downplayed the injury and returned after the minimum requirement on the IL. Julio Urias was already under consideration to make a spot start in the near future and would be a likely candidate to fill in for Maeda if necessary.
