Kenta Maeda might just sit ya’ down.
The Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher did it 12 times to the Colorado Rockies hitters Wednesday night, including a 10-of-14 strikeout run at one point. Maeda seemed to get stronger as the game went on and the NL’s third-worst batting team — the Rockies at .230 batting average — were blanked in a 3-0 loss.
The loss was important for multiple reasons. First, it meant the Dodgers won the series 2-1. And second, it means the Rockies — the best road team in baseball with 19 wins — went a mere 4-5 on their nine-game roadie.
The road trip’s finale started out a rubber match of Kyle Feeland versus Maeda, but Maeda shone brightest on this night, going 6.2 innings with 12 strikeouts, giving up two hits and four walks.
Freeland was a freak of nature early, throwing his cutter with success, striking out Justin Turner and Matt Kemp before giving up the first hit of the game for either team. That came in the bottom of the third to Yasiel Puig. But, Freeland was still able to work out of that jam and not give up a run.
For the Dodgers, Maeda really heated up in the fourth inning, striking out the side. Meanwhile, Freeland started struggling in the bottom of the fourth, allowing two runs to the Dodgers to fall behind 2-0. After giving up hits to Justin Turner and Enrique Hernandez, Logan Forsythe hit a ground rule double, sending one home. Hernandez scored when Puig reached on a fielder’s choice.
Maeda struck out four straight Rockies into the fifth inning before giving up his first hit of the night to Ian Desmond, of all players. But, he came out of the inning again unscathed.
LA put another run on the board in the sixth when Kemp hit a sacrifice fly to score Austin Barnes. That pushed the Dodgers ahead 3-0, the eventual winning margin.
In all, Colorado struck out 15 times in the game as their offense couldn’t string together hits to score any runs.
The Rockies entered the game in first place of the NL West ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks and are holding onto that spot by the narrowest of margins at 0.5 a game, at 26-24.
For Colorado, a much-needed day off awaits and then a nine-game homestand begins on Friday against the Cincinnati Reds who are 17-33. However, the Rockies are only 7-11 at Coors Field this year, which is third-worst in the MLB.
Play of the night: Ian Desmond tracked down a ball which was popped up in the bottom of the sixth inning, diving into the first row of Dodger Stadium and grabbing it for the second out. It was the best catch Desmond’s short Rockies career, and then he made a great tag on Puig later in the inning when Nolan Arenado’s throw went off-line.
Notes: While Freeland was out-shone by Maeda, Freeland was still quite good Wednesday. It was his sixth quality start per Rockies PR. And look at that ERA:
#Rockies lefty Kyle Freeland has worked six consecutive quality starts. He's allowed nine earned runs his past 40.1 innings for a 2.01 ERA
— Rockies Club Information (@RockiesClubInfo) May 24, 2018