The Los Angeles Dodgers looked to extend their reign of dominance over the San Diego Padres, a team they last lost to on Sept. 3, 2015. Additionally, entering Wednesday, the Dodgers owned an eight-game winning streak over the Padres and had held them scoreless in both games this season.
Batting leadoff for a third straight game, Chase Utley provided another spark for the Dodgers by hitting a triple off Andrew Cashner in the first inning. Justin Turner gave the Dodgers an early lead by with an RBI single to right field.
With two on and two outs, Carl Crawford slapped an RBI double down the third-base line. Joc Pederson then followed with a two-run single up the middle. Cashner retired A.J. Ellis to end the first inning after throwing 43 pitches and with a 4-0 deficit.
Kenta Maeda’s Major League debut got off on the right foot as he set the Padres down in order. Matt Kemp made solid contact, though his fly ball was caught by Crawford on the warning track in left field for the third out.
Cashner settled in to retire Maeda, Utley and Corey Seager in the second inning. Maeda opened the bottom of the second by painting the outside corner facing Wil Myers for his first Major League strikeout.
Yangervis Solarte reached on a bunt single, and advanced to second base on Maeda’s throwing error. He was stranded, however, and the Padres’ scoreless streak this season extended to 20 innings.
CONTINUE READING: Kenta Maeda hits first home run, Dodgers set franchise record
After Gonzalez drew a four-pitch walk in the third inning, Puig ripped a single to left field, putting two on with one out. Casher worked his way out of the small brush with trouble by striking out Crawford swinging and getting Pederson looking.
Maeda set the Padres down in order in the bottom of the third, then hit a solo home run to left field to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 5-0. Maeda became the first foreign-born pitcher to hit a home run in his MLB debut.
Kemp and Myers combined for back-to-back singles with one out in the bottom of the fourth. They were turned away by Gonzalez, who made a pair of fine defensive plays to help Maeda complete another scoreless inning.
The Padres managed to get runners on the corners with one out in the seventh, but were unable to shake free of their bad luck this season. Myers hit a chopper to Gonzalez, who threw home to nab Spangenberg on his attempt to score from third base.
However, the Padres challenged the call, with replay appearing to show Spangenberg sliding under Ellis’ tag; despite that, the out was upheld. Maeda then ended the sixth by striking out Solarte. That gave the Dodgers a new franchise record of 24 scoreless innings to start a season, breaking the previous record of 23 from 1974.
Maeda exited after six scoreless frames with only five hits allowed and four strikeouts. Yimi Garcia entered in the bottom of the seventh and set the Padres down in order. Puig hit a solo home run to left-center field in the eighth, pushing the Dodgers’ lead to 6-0.
J.P. Howell set the Padres down in order in the bottom of the eighth inning. Turner’s sacrifice fly in the ninth made it 7-0 in favor of the Dodgers. Joe Blanton kept the scoreless streak intact by retiring Kemp, Myers and Solarte.
The Dodgers joined the 1963 St. Louis CardinalsCardinals as only the teams in MLB history to open a season with three straight shutouts.