Arigatō, Kenta!
Kenta Maeda struck out 12 batters in seven scoreless innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers shut out the Colorado Rockies, 3-0, on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.
Following a late-inning rally to beat the Rockies on Tuesday night, the Dodgers scored first and kept their foot on the gas as the Boys in Blue won the three-game series in their first action against the division rivals this season.
The Dodgers scratched two runs across in the bottom of the fourth inning after Justin Turner led off with a single and scored three batters later on a ground-rule double down the left field line by Logan Forsythe.
"I was just trying to get on top of him [Kyle Freeland] and get him up in the air," said Forysthe. "Luckily I got one to fall inside the line."
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Forsythe is batting .357 with three runs, three doubles and an RBI in his last five games.
On the heels of his dominant outing in his last start against the Miami Marlins, Maeda had a no-hitter through the first four innings before a one-out single by Ian Desmond disrupted the no-no in the top of the fifth.
"I'm being aggressive in the zone and the hitters are missing my pitches," Maeda said through a translator of his success. "I ran into a little trouble in the sixth inning, but I just kept going and that set the tone for the day."
Maeda (4-3) surrendered just two hits with four walks and a season-high 12 strikeouts in 6 and 2/3 scoreless innings. The Japanese right-hander also made a career-high 111 pitches and recorded 10 of the last 11 outs via the strikeout.
"He was in control. We extended him a little bit tonight, but his stuff was not falling off," aid Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts. "He's attacking and he's more efficient when he's on the attack and it allows him to go deeper into games."
In six career starts against the Rockies, Maeda is 5-2 with a 2.13 ERA.
Matt Kemp was at it again on Wednesday, as he knocked in a run with an RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth. Kemp leads the Major Leagues with a .471 average with runners in scoring position this season.
He also holds the fourth best batting average among active players against the Rockies with a .317 average against them over the course of his career.
Kyle Freeland (4-5) took the loss, snapping his three-game winning streak, allowing three runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 6 and 1/3 innings.
Kenley Jansen struck out the side in the ninth for this 10th save of the season and second consecutive.
"For me to have four saves in five days is a great feeling," said Jansen. "Things are going our way now. We just have to keep going."
Despite being five games below .500, the Dodgers find themselves just 3.5 games out of first place in the National League West.
Up Next:
The Dodgers will have an off day on Thursday before hosting the San Diego Padres for the start of a three-game series on Friday. LHP Clayton Richard will toe the rubber opposite RHP Ross Stripling. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10PM PST.
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