The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their strong play at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night, earning a 6-3 victory over the San Diego Padres to improve to 28-16 on the season. They now take the field on Wednesday night looking to complete a two-game sweep of the Padres and close out the homestand with a 7-2 record.
Kenta Maeda gets the start on the mound and is looking to build off his last outing, which was his best of the season. He tossed six shutout innings while allowing just one hit with six strikeouts and two walks in a victory over the Washington Nationals.
Maeda has been up-and-down in eight starts so far this season. He has a 4-2 record to go along with a 4.03 ERA, 4.41 FIP and 1.30 WHIP with 40 strikeouts and 20 walks in 44.2 innings. “With Kenta it’s interesting,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“There’s days where his command is better than other days. And I think that with any pitcher, that leads to success. With him, it’s his fastball, slider, split, there just needs to be more consistent execution. I think his intent is right.
“The game planning, preparation is something that’s been inconsistent. When it’s synced up, he’s as good as anybody. I think having seen those guys just recently, there’s a couple pitches he’d like to have back, but I think he matches up well.”
Maeda has faced the Padres 14 times in his career (12 starts) and gone 5-3 with a 4.55 ERA and 1.12 WHIP, accumulating 82 strikeouts and 16 walks in 65.1 innings.
The Dodgers offense was able to get to Padres rookie Chris Paddack in the series opener, and now they try to do the same with another promising young pitcher in left-hander Matt Strahm.
In seven starts this season, Strahm is 1-2 with a 3.00 ERA, 3.31 FIP and 1.10 WHIP. He has struck out 34 compared to just six walks in 39 innings. Strahm has pitched six career innings across four appearances against the Dodgers, allowing six hits and one run (1.50 ERA) with eight strikeouts and three walks.
While Petco Park has the reputation as a pitcher’s ballpark, Strahm has actually fared better on the road this season, which could bode well for San Diego. He has pitched to a 2.05 ERA in four road starts compared to 4.24 ERA in three home starts.
The Dodgers have defeated the Padres in three of their four matchups this season, but they have not yet been able to figure out how to slow down Manny Machado, who is slashing .375/.412/1.188 with four home runs and seven RBI against his former team.
Cody Bellinger may have hit just his first home run since April 28 on Tuesday night, but he is still the better hitter in baseball by many metrics. He leads MLB in batting average (.409), on-base percentage (.486), slugging percentage (.785), hits (61) and RBI (41) while ranking third in home runs (15) and second in runs (38).
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Kiké Hernandez
3B: Justin Turner
RF: Cody Bellinger
1B: David Freese
SS: Corey Seager
LF: Chris Taylor
CF: Alex Verdugo
C: Russell Martin
P: Kenta Maeda
Padres lineup:
2B: Greg Garcia
LF: Franmil Reyes
SS: Manny Machado
1B: Eric Hosmer
LF: Hunter Renfroe
C: Austin Allen
3B: Ty France
P: Matt Strahm
CF: Manuel Margot
