For Kenta Maeda, trouble has arrived on the odd occasions
by Cary Osborne
Kenta Maeda was on his way to the most laborious inning of his Major League career.
One pitch could have changed that fortune.
With the bases loaded and two out in the first inning, Cubs catcher Willson Contreras roped a base-clearing double to left field. Maeda then allowed an RBI double to Daniel Descalso. And in the second inning, Anthony Rizzo belted a two-run homer off him.
The Dodgers threatened late — twice — but left five runners on in the seventh and eighth innings, including leaving the bases loaded in the eighth. They stumbled in the first of a three-game series with Chicago and lost 7–2 on Tuesday.
Maeda went to a full count on four of the first five Cubs hitters he faced and threw 37 pitches (a career-high for an inning) in the first. He was at 64 pitches after two. But he retired the final six Cubs he faced in the third and fourth innings on 16 pitches.
“Even without his best stuff early, we still had a chance to get out of it unscathed,” manager Dave Roberts told SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo. “But to (Maeda’s) credit, he came back and innings three and four I thought there was more conviction with the fastball … but at that point in time, (it was) six runs across.”
It has been an uneven ride for Maeda thus far in 2019.
In starts one, three and five, he has allowed 14 earned runs in 16 innings. In starts two and four, he allowed two earned runs in 11 2/3 innings.
What was uncharacteristic about this outing was the early struggle. Maeda came into the game with a 2.25 ERA (two earned runs in eight innings) in the first two innings this season. Though it’s a small sample size, he allowed two hits and no walks in the first inning in his previous four starts. He allowed three hits and three walks (one intentional) in the first inning on Tuesday.
“I wasn’t able to locate my pitches very well. I kept struggling throughout the entire inning and the walks piled up,” Maeda told Rizzo. “I was able to get to an 0–2 count (on Contreras), but my pitch obviously caught too much of the plate.”
The earlier exit ushered in Julio Urías for his first relief appearance of the year — a dominant appearance. He faced seven batters in two innings, struck out four, issued a walk and induced a ground ball double-play.
In the bottom of the seventh, Caleb Ferguson surrendered a solo home run to Javier Báez, giving the Cubs a 7–2 lead at the time.
The Dodgers put solo runs across in the third and seventh innings, with an RBI double from Justin Turner and an RBI ground out from Chris Taylor, respectively.
It was that seventh inning that was the first of two big missed opportunities.
The Dodgers put the first two on with a single from A.J. Pollock and double by Cody Bellinger, but the Dodgers ended up leaving a pair on base with Max Muncy striking out looking.
With the bases loaded in the eighth, Pollock struck out swinging and the inning ended with Bellinger grounding out, nearly beating the throw to first base.
It’s the sixth time the Dodgers have scored two runs or fewer in a game this year. They have lost each of those games.
