After an uncharacteristic poor offensive performance in Friday night’s game against the San Diego Padres leading to a loss, the Los Angeles Dodgers looked to get back on track Saturday in the third of a four-game series at Dodger Stadium.
Unfortunately, the Dodgers offense stayed quiet once again, spoiling a very strong outing by starting pitcher Kenta Maeda, resulting in a 3-1 win for the Padres.
Both Maeda and Padres rookie starter Chris Paddack looked sharp early as neither team had a hit until the bottom of the fourth inning. Paddack had a perfect game until Justin Turner broke it up with a two-out single in the fourth, and Maeda didn’t give up his first knock until Francisco Mejia hit a one-out single up the middle in the fifth.
The Dodgers’ first real scoring opportunity came in the bottom of the fifth when Matt Beaty doubled, Chris Taylor walked and then Russell Martin singled to load up the bases with one out. Paddack beared down and got a strikeout and groundout to escape the jam without any damage though.
Paddack only wound up going 5.2 innings, but he kept the Dodgers off the scoreboard while striking out six.
Maeda matched Paddack pitch for pitch and was even more efficient, allowing him to get deep into the game. The Padres finally got to him in the bottom of the seventh inning though when Hunter Renfroe hit a solo home run with two outs. Renfroe has now hit three go-ahead home runs in the seventh inning or later against the Dodgers this season, with two coming in the last two nights.
For the first time all season, Maeda was able to pitch into the eighth inning. He did not make it out of the frame though as he allowed a single and then a two-run home run to Manuel Margot to extend the Dodgers’ deficit to 3-0. The righty wound up striking out six in 7.2 innings, but the damage was done.
The Dodgers were able to avoid being shut out, breaking through for a run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Alex Verdugo doubled and scored on an error by Manny Machado. There was no comeback to be had in the ninth inning though, resulting in the loss.
