Kiké Hernandez slugged a pair of solo home runs and Kenta Maeda turned in three perfect innings to help lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-0 win over the Seattle Mariners in the lone Spring Training matchup between the two teams.
Hernandez made the most of batting leadoff for the first time this year, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Hernandez then extended it with another solo home run with two outs in the third inning. He reached base a third time in the sixth on an error.
After allowing a combined three runs on two hits in three innings in his first two Cactus League starts, Maeda was nothing short of dominant. He bookended a perfect first inning with strikeouts, ended the second inning with another strikeout, and picked up another in the third.
Maeda was so efficient, he finished his day by throwing another inning in the bullpen, specifically doing so out of the stretch.
His effort was backed by similar performances from Kenley Jansen and Yimi Garcia. Jansen worked a 1-2-3 fourth inning, while Garcia stranded a leadoff double in the fifth and was replaced after issuing a leadoff walk in the sixth inning.
Jaime Schultz, Josh Sborz and Parker Curry combined to finish out the Dodgers’ shutout win. It did come with some suspense as the Mariners had the tying run in scoring position with one out in the ninth inning.
