What more can you say about Kenta Maeda?
He has been fantastic and easily counts as the Dodgers best acquisition of this past year. Given early fears that he would be susceptible to an arm injury you wouldn't be blamed for being skeptical. Thankfully, Maeda was extremely confident in his abilities and was willing to sign with us on an performance based contract, and now we understand why. Kenta Maeda is the Dodgers ace in the absence of Clayton Kershaw.
Last night he barrelled over an unmatched Diamondbacks club by going 6.1 innings, giving up just three hits and a lone earned run. Furthermore, eight Arizona batter struck out and only one batter was given a walk. Per Jack Baer and Steve Gilbert at MLB.com:
"Kenta threw the ball great," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "I think you could see with those hitters and their approach, sitting soft. He was effective with his fastball tonight and locating it inside, outside. Kept those guys guessing and made his slider that much more effective. We tried to get through that seventh inning, but he gave us a great, great effort. Something we really needed."At one point he retired 18 batters in a row. Not lost on the evening was the Dodgers power surge at the plate against former teammate Zack Greinke. They pounded out five home runs against the highest paid pitcher in the game; including four in the fifth inning alone. Last nights 10-2 victory gives the Dodgers a four game lead over the Giants
Pic above via Jill Weisleder/LA Dodgers 2016. Go here to check out more pics by Jill and Jon SooHoo from yesterdays game. Below are more links to check out:
- This Day in Dodger History: In 1924 the Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) recorded their 15th consecutive win, establishing the longest winning streak in franchise history. In 1981 Fernando Valenzuela recorded his seventh shutout of the season, tying a National League rookie record for shutout. In 1996 Brett Butler returns to the Dodger lineup four months after having surgery for throat cancer. You can watch a news report on his first game back here.
- Video: The MLB put together a nice Vin Scully tribute video that you can check out here (Link Here).
- Phil Gurnee at Dodgers, Yesterday and Today put together a nice write up on Vin Scully's former broadcast partner Jerry Doggett. Check that out here.
- Via Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider; "Pepe Yñiguez keeps his wife’s memory with him every day."
“I’m always thinking of her,” said Yñiguez, now in his 19th season as a Dodger broadcaster and the play-by-play man to Fernando Valenzuela’s color for SportsNet LA’s Spanish broadcasts. “She would always tell me, ‘I know you can do it.’ ” …
- Via Dave Cameron at Fangraphs; "The Remarkable First Year of Corey Seager."
But Seager isn’t an extreme groundball hitter; he’s got a pretty typical batted-ball profile, except he just never hits infield flies. There’s one other hitter in baseball who has made their living that way, and Seager’s rookie year makes him look a lot like Joey Votto at the plate.
- Via Jack Baer at MLB.com; "Puig may start more than originally expected."
"Yes, Yasiel will play against the left-handed pitchers, but I think there will be some opportunities against some right-handers, too," Roberts said. "For me, this matchup today, I felt good with Josh out there."
- Via Sarah Scrivens at the ESPN; "MLB Rumor Central: Dodgers interested in extending Rich Hill."
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that though it took some time for Hill to get on the mound for Los Angeles, the Dodgers are "in love" and would like to sign the lefty to a multi-year deal before he enters free agency this winter.
- Ouch! Brandon McCarthy had a bad day. Per Craig Minami at True Blue LA; "Brandon McCarthy gives up 10 runs, 3 home runs in rehab start."
McCarthy threw 79 pitches of which, 61 for strikes. He said that he threw all of his pitches, his fastball was measured at 90-92 MPH on the stadium scoreboard.
"Yeah, it got better as it went, the line score looks absolutely ridiculous, but that was a better team than I faced before [in rehab starts]," McCarthy said. "I mean they hit everything and that was very confusing, stuff-wise felt like it got better as it went, I was content with it."
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