While the Los Angeles Dodgers reached the midway point of the 2016 season last month in terms of games played, Sunday’s contest against the San Diego Padres was their last before the All-Star Game. Kenta Maeda took the mound for the Dodgers while Christian Friedrich was on the hill for the Padres.
Maeda got off to a good start, retiring the Padres in order in the top off the first while striking out two. The left-handed Friedrich had a bit of a rougher time in the bottom of the first as he gave up a leadoff double to Howie Kendrick, followed by an RBI single to Corey Seager.
Friedrich was able to avoid more trouble as he struck out Trayce Thompson with two runners on to end the inning. Alex Dickerson hit a one-out single in the second, but Maeda held San Diego scoreless while striking out two more.
Yasmani Grandal and Scott Van Slyke combined for back-to-back singles in the bottom of the second with no outs. Grandal was forced out at third base on a Maeda sacrifice bunt attempt, but Kendrick ensured they wouldn’t go scoreless by pulling an RBI single into left field.
For the third consecutive inning Maeda struck out two while putting up another zero. a scoreless inning. A Yasiel Puig walk and Grandal single didn’t amount to anything for the Dodgers, who led 2-0 through three innings.
San Diego broke through in the fifth, with Derek Norris crushing a solo home run to cut the Dodgers’ lead in half. Just as quickly as Maeda gave up a run, Adrian Gonzalez got it back with a home run to left-center field that just cleared the wall.
Maeda struck out the side in the sixth inning to give him a career-high 12 strikeouts. After the Dodgers went down in order, Maeda collected another strikeout as he became the first Dodgers starting pitcher not named Clayton Kershaw to complete seven innings since May 14.
Los Angeles didn’t muster any offense in the seventh or eighth innings, but the Dodgers’ lead held up, with Kenley Jansen converting a second consecutive save in the 3-1 victory. It wasn’t without some stress, however, as the first two batters reached before Jansen got through the inning.
