The Los Angeles Dodgers improved to 8-7-1 in Cactus League play on Friday as they earned a 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Camelback Ranch.
Kenta Maeda made his third start of the spring and though he didn’t begin on the right foot, surrendering a leadoff home run to Whit Merrifield, he settled in from there. Maeda completed three innings of one-hit ball, collecting four strikeouts compared to one walk.
Maeda is the lone right-hander projected to be in the Dodgers Opening Day rotation, so it will be important for him to assert himself as a presence this season.
The Dodgers got on the scoreboard in the third inning on an excuse-me swing by Chase Utley that resulted in a flare single to left field, scoring Trayce Thompson.
They then had a bit of an offensive outburst in the middle innings, scoring a run in the fifth on a single by Andrew Toles, two in the sixth on a home run by Kyle Farmer and two more in the seventh on a single by Edwin Rios to extend the lead to 6-2.
The Man. 💯 #DodgersST pic.twitter.com/9rqH9vE2SS
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 9, 2018
The home run by Farmer was his second of the spring. Now 8-for-16 with six RBIs in eight games this spring, he is swinging a red-hot bat in hopes of making the Opening Day roster.
The swing that broke the tie 💪@kFarm17 | #DodgersST pic.twitter.com/Y2fOkHP3TY
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) March 9, 2018
Toles is also making a case to be on the 25-man roster, as he leads the team with nine hits in 22 at-bats (.409 batting average), with two home runs and eight RBIs in 10 games.
Kenley Jansen was originally scheduled to make his spring debut in this game, although he wound up being scratched due to hamstring tightness. He’s expected to pitch in a second “B” game before finally taking the mound in a Cactus League game.
Edwin Rios plated a pair with this two-run single today. No. 12 on the @Dodgers Top 30 Prospects list: https://t.co/AnIkFLtPPp pic.twitter.com/xTwBA9e25x
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 10, 2018
