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LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers have started each of their last seven seasons with a win on opening day. On Tuesday night, they try to keep that momentum going against the Padres in the second game of a four-game series at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers are 4-2 in their second game of the season dating back to 2011, losing in 2013 and 2015. Kenta Maeda gets the ball on Tuesday night for the Dodgers, and will be hard pressed to match his 2016 debut.
Maeda pitched the third game for the Dodgers last year, and all he did was toss six scoreless innings, allowing only five singles and no walks while striking out four. At the plate, he homered in his second big league plate appearance.
It was a great major league debut.
The Dodgers won three of Maeda’s four starts against the Padres last season, and the right-hander struck out 27 against only two walks in those outings. That included a career-high 13 strikeouts on July 10, Maeda’s only start against San Diego at home.
Clayton Richard starts the second game for the Padres, giving the Dodgers their first crack at a left-handed starting pitcher in 2017. The Dodgers’ struggles against southpaws were well chronicled last season, last in the majors in most offensive categories against left-handed pitching.
The Dodgers were 22-24 (.478) in games against left-handed starting pitchers in 2016, after going 51-35 (.593) in the previous two seasons combined.
After scoring 14 runs on Monday, the Dodgers are within striking distance of the franchise’s most prolific two-game offense to start a season in the last 105 years. During that span, dating back to 1913, the most runs scored by the Dodgers in their first two games is 21, by the 1935 Brooklyn team. The Dodgers teams in Los Angeles in 1983 and 2000 each scored 20 runs in the first two games of the year.
The Dodgers have won 10 of their last 11 home series against the Padres, winning 26 of their last 36 against San Diego at Dodger Stadium dating back to 2014.
Game info
Time: 7:10 p.m.
TV: SportsNet LA