The Los Angeles Dodgers saw their three-game winning streak snapped on Saturday night in Game 2 of the Mexico Series as theydefeated by the San Diego Padres, 7-4, in Monterrey.
Kenta Maeda got the start but faced immediate trouble. Travis Jankowsi hit a triple to lead off the bottom of the first inning, and then Eric Hosmer followed with a home run to give San Diego an early 2-0 lead.
Maeda settled in from there, but after the game, was not happy to give up those early runs as that is something he has struggled with throughout the course of this season, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“Overall, there were good parts and bad parts, but three runs earned, they weren’t that good,” Maeda said through a translator. “The early inning runs is something that I did in previous outings, so it’s something I had to overcome.”
With the game tied at three in the top of the sixth inning, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts opted to pinch-hit for Maeda with two runners on base and two outs in the inning.
While Maeda understood that was an opportunity to put more runs on the board, he would have liked to keep pitching:
“Regardless, because I was going to hit that inning, and regardless of whether a pinch-hitter came up or not, I did want to throw.”
Overall in his five innings, Maeda threw 82 pitches, giving up four hits and three runs while striking out seven and walking one.
While the results haven’t always quite been there so far this season, Maeda’s strikeout rate has improved drastically which is definitely a positive for the Dodgers moving forward.
