The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their winning ways on Wednesday, this time defeating the Texas Rangers, 3-1, in the finale of a two-game series at Globe Life Park.
It was an impressive all-around performance for the Dodgers’ pitching staff, which saw Alex Wood set the tone with seven scoreless innings in his 25th start of the season.
Scott Alexander followed up with a scoreless eighth to hand the ball to Kenta Maeda in the ninth. Because it had already been determined Kenley Jansen would not pitch, Maeda was called upon to record his second career save.
It was a learning experience for Maeda, who later acknowledged a difference in feeling and adrenaline between starting and closing. He admitted that he felt an added sense of pressure when pitching in the ninth, but nevertheless got the job done.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes that the bullpen stepping up as of late will only benefit the unit down the road, ahead of key series within the National League West, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“It’s a good thing in the sense that we’re going to play a lot more stressful games this month. It’s good for all of us. That’s sort of what I’m taking from it and I hope our guys are doing the same thing.”
With the exception of Jansen, who has shown signs of rust since returning from the disabled list last week, the Dodgers’ relief corps has yielded only three runs over their last 14.2 inning pitched (1.84 ERA).
After previously dropping 10 of 14, Los Angeles has promptly answered back with back-to-back sweeps of the San Diego Padres and Rangers. The club’s winning streak sits at five, to which they’ve gained 3.5 games on the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West.
The hot streak comes at an ideal time, as the Dodgers and Diamondbacks are set to square off in a crucial four-game series at Dodger Stadium over the weekend, with one game separating the divisional rivals.
