Dodgers turn to Kenta Maeda to right the ship in Denver

The Dodgers turn to Kenta Maeda in the middle game of their series against the Rockies at Coors Field, hoping to help stabilize the pitching staff.

We will find out more later today, but the biceps tightness that forced Yimi Garcia out on Friday could put him on the disabled list Saturday, with his likely replacement a starter from Triple-A in long relief, as mentioned by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com late Friday night, and specifically reported as Zach Lee on his way to Denver by J.P. Hoornstra of the LA Daily News.

This is before considering a potential thumb injury to Scott Kazmir, which was downplayed by all parties after his five-inning, four-run start on Friday. But that's something that will be sorted out in a few days, once the Dodgers are home. They still need to navigate two mor.games at Coors Field, where they have lost their last five games.

Enter Maeda, who has been nothing short of magnificent in his first three major league starts, allowing one run in 19 innings with 15 strikeouts and four walks.

Maeda on Saturday will try to become the fourth Dodgers pitcher dating back to at least 1913 with quality starts in each of his first four major league games. The other three - Danny McDevitt in 1957, Don Sutton in 1966 and Pedro Astacio in 1992 - all began their careers with five straight quality starts.

The Dodgers only had one quality start in nine games in Denver in 2015, and that was by Clayton Kershaw. Their last non-Kershaw quality start was by Zack Greinke on July 3, 2014.

Game info

Time 5:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA