Dustin May made his return to the mound at Dodger Stadium after more than a year since last pitching in a Major League game, and he dominated the Miami Marlins en route to a 7-0 win for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
May allowed a single to Joey Wendle to open the game before getting back-to-back strikeouts. However, he then walked JJ Bleday and Brian Anderson to load the bases.
The right-hander escaped the jam with a strike out of Nick Fortes, and from there he settled in and made the Marlins look foolish all night. “It’s super exciting to know that I’m back and know that I can go guys out when I need to,” May said after earning the win.
“And it was super, super exciting for me to know that I can get out of a jam when I put myself into one. That was huge for the confidence boost and just got to build off this one.”
May followed his first inning with four perfect frames and added six more strikeouts before he hit the pitch limit Dodgers manager Dave Roberts set. The 24-year-old lobbied to remain in the game, and Roberts considered it, but Caleb Ferguson took over in the sixth inning.
With the first start post-Tommy John surgery behind him now, May can focus on building up for the postseason, and he is positive he can help the Dodgers win. “I mean, yeah,” May said when asked if he’s confident about his outlook moving forward.
“I’ve been confident throughout my career. I’ve got to stay that way and there’s no other way to look at it.”
May’s confidence can also be seen while he’s pitching as an emotive player who likes to bounce around and scream while he’s on the mound. “That’s his kind of energy. We just want him to be himself,” Roberts said.
“And he’s an emotional guy. He probably does things that I don’t think that he realizes. But a lot of it is just that kind of adrenaline that he has, and that’s kind of how he exudes it.”
Dodgers teammates excited for May’s return
Austin Barnes was behind the plate to catch May in his return and the veteran backstop was impressed with the outing. With May showing how talented he is, Barnes is happy the Dodgers have him back in the rotation.
“I think after the first he calmed down, kind of found his sights a little bit and I don’t think he was too hyped up,” Barnes said. “He might have been inside, but I don’t think he showed it too much. I think he’s always kind of a natural pitcher.
“So it was good, it was good to see and we’re really, really glad to have him back.”
Justin Turner also shared the sentiment of how glad he is to have May in the Dodgers rotation.
“It was just exciting to have him back out there and obviously he was probably a little amped up, it’s been a while,” Turner said. “So little jitters in the first, but he worked his way out of it and then settled in nice for five innings, so it’s good to have him back.”
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