Kenta Maeda fell shy of completing four innings, but he turned in a strong outing as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the second time in three days.
Maeda was sharp early, striking out the side in the bottom of the first inning, and amassing four strikeouts through two innings. However, a mistake pitch to Albert Pujols in the bottom of the second resulted in a home run that gave the Angels a 1-0 lead.
The Dodgers scratched against Ricky Nolasco in the third inning, sparked by an O’Koyea Dickson two-out base hit. Chase Utley followed with a single, and Justin Turner’s RBI double tied the game.
Maeda struck out the side in the bottom half of the third, though Nolan Fontana reached with one out on a wild pitch. He was stranded by Yunel Escobar and Kole Calhoun. Nolasco walked Cody Bellinger in the fourth and later allowed a two-run homer to Austin Barnes.
Maeda retired Mike Trout and Pujols, then gave way to Josh Ravin with the bases empty and two outs in the bottom of the fourth. The hard-throwing right-hander promptly walked Cameron Maybin, but ended the inning on a pop-out. Ravin collected one strikeout in the fifth as he retired the Angels in order.
Nothing came of a Trayce Thompson walk in the sixth inning, and the Dodgers’ lead remained 3-1. Brandon Morrow followed in Ravin’s footsteps by turning in a scoreless inning in relief. Trevor Oaks issued a pair of walks in the bottom of the seventh but managed to get out of the inning unscathed.
The Dodgers were again held scoreless in the eighth, as Darnell Sweeney followed a Willie Calhoun single by grounding into an inning-ending double play. Oaks allowed a pair of two-out base hits in the eighth, and gave way to Patrick Schuster with runners on the corners.
Matt Williams stole second base, but both runners were stranded in scoring position. Schuster remained in the game in the ninth and earned the save in the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory.
