The Los Angeles Dodgers were held in check by another former teammate in Jesse Chavez, but broke out against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim bullpen to come away with a 4-0 victory and pull even in the Freeway Series.
Following in the footsteps of Ricky Nolasco, Chavez got the better of the Dodgers for much of the night. He carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning and lost it only because of a fluke play.
Eric Young Jr. couldn’t locate Chris Taylor’s routine pop-up and it fell several feet in front of Young for a two-out double. While Chavez walked Cody Bellinger a second time on the night, he stranded both baserunners by striking out Austin Barnes.
While Chavez hadn’t allowed a run in 5.1 innings of work, he exited with runners at the corners. Turning to a left-hander didn’t pan out for Anaheim, as Jose Alvarez surrendered an RBI single to Bellinger, and a three-run home run to Joc Pederson.
The homer was Pederson’s first off a lefty this season and eighth in his career.
In what was his second spot start since being bumped to the bullpen, Kenta Maeda held up his end of the bargain. Maeda faced the minimum through three innings and only saw some trouble in the fourth.
But he worked around a bunt single and one-out base hit to get out of the inning unscathed. Maeda went seven shutout innings in what was his longest start since throwing 8.1 innings on May 10.
The shutout start was Maeda’s first this season, and first time in his career throwing seven scoreless innings. It was his third time completing seven frames this year. He pitched with a consistent rhythm, regularly attacked the zone, and finished with six strikeouts against zero walks.
Brandon Morrow followed Maeda with two scoreless innings in what was his fourth appearance since rejoining the club last week.
