LOS ANGELES — Kenta Maeda allowed only three hits over seven innings, Max Muncy homered and the Los Angeles Dodgers bounced back with a 4-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.
The Dodgers were defeated by the Diamondbacks 3-2 in 11 innings Friday night, in a game that included a bench-clearing postgame confrontation between the NL West rivals. Cooler heads prevailed 24 hours later, with no incidents or retaliatory pitches.
Maeda (8-8) struck out six as he picked up his first victory since May 31. He also helped his cause at the plate with a pair of sacrifice bunts, including one in the fourth inning in which Corey Seager beat pitcher Alex Young’s throw to home plate, extending Los Angeles’ lead to 4-0.
The Japanese right-hander — who had gone 0-6 in his previous 11 starts — retired the side in order his first time through the lineup before Jarrod Dyson led off the fourth with a single. Ketel Marte was the only Arizona player to reach scoring position when he singled to left, stole second with two outs and advanced to third on a wild pitch. The shortstop failed to score as Maeda struck out David Peralta to end the frame.
It is the fifth time in Maeda’s career that he has pitched seven or more scoreless innings in a start.
Dodgers’ left fielder Joc Pederson, who entered the game in the fourth inning, had a nice play in the sixth when he ran into the wall to rob Alex Avila of a hit. Pederson was temporarily dazed after his right shoulder slammed into the wall, but he remained in the game.
Caleb Ferguson, Joe Kelly and Kenley Jansen pitched the final two innings as the Dodgers recorded their major-league leading 13th shutout of the season and second of the homestand.
Muncy’s solo shot to centre off Young in the second inning broke a three-game home run drought. It was only the second homer in the last 16 games for Muncy, who had gone deep four times in the first eight games after the All-Star break.
Russell Martin had two hits and drove in a run for the Dodgers, who have won seven of nine on their current homestand.
Young (4-2) surrendered four runs on five hits over 3 1/3 innings. The rookie left-hander had allowed only four earned runs in 18 2/3 innings on the road coming into the game.
BLUE HEAVEN?
Kristopher Negrón’s hot start with the Dodgers continued with an RBI single in the third. Negron is 10 of 29 with seven RBIs since being acquired from Seattle on July 28.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: RHP Ross Stripling is likely to return as a reliever once he is able to recover from a sore neck. Manager Dave Roberts said Stripling — who originally ended up on the injured list due to right biceps tendinitis — will likely not resume baseball activities for another week.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Mike Leake (9-8, 4.24 ERA), who was acquired from Seattle last month, makes his 12th career start against LA. He is 5-6 with a 4.02 ERA.
Dodgers: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (11-2, 1.53 ERA) will be activated off the injured list. He missed one start due to neck soreness.
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Joe Reedy, The Associated Press