Dustin May turned in one of his strongest outings of the 2023 season as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres to set up a rubber match on Sunday.
May went six innings, giving up no runs on three hits. It was the third time this season he has pitched six innings and the first time in one month.
Although May was on the roster the last time the Dodgers faced the Padres during the 2022 National League Division Series, he did not make an appearance before L.A. was eliminated.
While he may have taken some extra satisfaction facing the Padres this time around, the 25-year-old said he’s always happy to pitch regardless of the opponent, via SportsNet LA:
“I’m always excited to throw. It doesn’t matter who it’s against. It’s a game, and I want to go out and compete against whoever my name is called against.”
May struck out six batters and only walked one during his outing, which improved on both of his season marks of 6.03 strikeouts per nine and 3.67 walks per nine:
“I was throwing a lot of strikes. Being able to get ahead of guys, and if I wasn’t getting ahead, I was able to come back and not give free bases. That was very helpful.”
Two of the Padres’ hits against May came during the first time through the order, with both of them being singles. The only other hit he allowed was another single to open the sixth inning:
“I don’t really think I got more simplified. It was sinker-slider, and it was working, so we weren’t really changing it. We just kind of stuck to the game plan going into it.
The Dodgers bullpen allowed one run in the eighth, but thanks to their two runs on a home run from Chris Taylor, it was enough to get May his fourth win of the season.
He now holds a 2.68 ERA across 40.1 innings with 29 strikeouts and a 0.94 WHIP.
Dodgers gave Dustin May extra rest
After throwing a career-high 104 pitches on April 28, the Dodgers shuffled their starting rotation in order to provide May with two days of extra rest.
Even with slotting Gavin Stone in as a spot starter last week, May could have taken the ball in the series opener at Petco Park. However, the Dodgers instead sent Clayton Kershaw to the mound that night and pushed May back to Saturday.
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