The Los Angeles Dodgers pulled to within 3.5 games behind the first-place Colorado Rockies in the National League West after defeating them 3-0 on Wednesday to claim another series win.
Kenta Maeda was brilliant in what was his ninth start of the season, registering a season-high 12 strikeouts in 6.2 shutout innings of work. He additionally saw his scoreless innings streak grow to 15.1 after previously holding the Miami Marlins without a run over eight frames on May 17.
Moreover, Maeda pitched into the seventh inning on Wednesday, marking the second consecutive start he reached that threshold. He additionally threw 111 pitches — his most since entering the Majors in 2016.
For Maeda, it was his fourth consecutive outing in which he received an extra day of rest. That’s not a coincidence, as the right-hander has historically fared better on five days of rest as opposed to the usual four.
After the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts noted Maeda’s success with an extra day of rest and plans to give him another one ahead of his next start, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“Over the course of the last 2 1/2 years, [Maeda] has shown when he gets an extra day or two, he’s stronger. The next turn he’ll have an extra day.”
Maeda has proven that he’s more effective when given an extra day of preparation this season, as evidenced by his solid 3.00 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 33 innings on five days of rest. That’s compared to a noticeably worse 6.17 ERA and 1.63 WHIP in 11.2 innings on four days of rest.
Since debuting for the Dodgers in 2016, Maeda has logged 24 starts on four days of rest. In that span, he has posted a 4.56 ERA and 1.27 WHIP over 126.1 innings pitched with 137 strikeouts compared to 45 walks.
On the flip side, Maeda has accumulated the same amount of starts on five days of rest. With the extra day, he has compiled a much more impressive 3.43 ERA and 1.08 WHIP across 128.2 innings pitched with 132 punch outs to 29 free passes.
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