The Los Angeles Dodgers evened up their series against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday behind a dominant outing from Dustin May, who continues making the most of his opportunity in the starting rotation.
In six innings of work, the right-hander struck out a career-high eight batters and allowed just two runs on three hits. It represented his longest start of the season in terms of innings and pitches (82).
“There was a little more swing-and-miss tonight because I was putting the ball where I wanted it,” May said of being able to log a season-high six innings pitched. “It just allowed me to go deeper into the game with the swing-and-miss, and being able to put balls on both sides of the plate, and the defense was phenomenal behind me as well.”
May induced seven swings-and-misses — his second most of the season — and commanded the strike zone all night long. “For me, going forward it’s just pounding the zone, getting my balls more over the plate and allowing hitters to make the mistakes,” he said after the Dodgers’ 5-2 win.
“I was locating the fastball to both sides of the plate and the cutter was working.”
May didn’t make many mistakes in his outing, but he was particularly frustrated after allowing a two-out RBI double to Fernando Tatis Jr. in the bottom of the third. “I just need to execute pitches better,” May said of yelling into his glove when walking off the mound between innings.
“That’s kind of what I’m saying in my glove in a nicer way. I was frustrated and I just put it out there for myself that I needed to be better.”
With each start, May feels he is getting closer to achieving consistency. “For me tonight was pretty good. I was commanding both sides of the plate really well, my cutter was working, curveball was back foot,” he said.
“The one that I missed was a mistake and he hit it pretty far. Other than that I felt like I took a big step forward, and I just need to keep taking steps off of that. “The more starts you go out, the more reps you get, the more comfortable you get. Consistency comes with the process.”
May baffles Manny Machado with insane two-seam fastball
It was evident from first pitch that May brought his A-game to Petco Park. In the bottom of the first, he turned heads by striking out Manny Machado with an insane 99 mph two-seam fastball that had 18 inches of horizontal break before reaching Austin Barnes’ mitt.
“I couldn’t imagine a better pitch on the filth meter,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game.
“It started middle-in, and I think it ended up six or eight inches in. That just speaks to the depth and run. And, you’re talking about 99 mph. It made a really, really good hitter look pretty bad.”
May could only explain the pitch with a “grip it and rip it” mindset.
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