Kenta Maeda piles up the strikeouts, and the zeros

Kenta Maeda was magnificent for a second straight start, striking out 12 in the Dodgers’ 3-0 win over the Rockies on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

The victory secured a second straight series win for the Dodgers, who have won six of their last seven games.

Maeda walked a pair early but didn’t allow a hit until Ian Desmond singled in the fifth inning. That snapped an 0-for-29 skid for opposing batters against Maeda, dating back to last Thursday.

He ran into some trouble in the sixth inning with a walk and a single with one out, but Maeda struck out Nolan Arenado and Gerardo Parra, both swinging, to end the threat.

Maeda struck out 12 on the night, one shy of his career high. Tuesday was the fourth double-digit strikeout game of his career, three of which have come in 2018. Maeda nearly had an immaculate inning in the seventh, throwing eight straight strikes to start his final inning, before ultimately losing Chris Iannetta to a walk.

That spelled the end of the night and a new career high 111 pitches for Maeda, who walked off the mound to a raucous ovation from the Dodger Stadium crowd. Maeda struck out 10 of his final 15 batters faced.

Maeda has not allowed a run in his last two starts, pitching into the seventh inning in consecutive starts for the first time since June 3-8, 2016.

Two singles in the fourth inning were both cashed in, and Logan Forsythe got the Dodgers on the board with a ground rule double to left field. A fielder’s choice ground ball got the second run home.

A walk, a single and a sacrifice fly tacked on another run in the fifth to complete the scoring.

Up next

The Dodgers have a home off day on Thursday, then welcome the Padres to town for three weekend games at Dodger Stadium. Ross Stripling starts the opener on Friday night for Los Angeles, facing Clayton Richard for San Diego.

Wednesday particulars

Home runs: none

WP - Kenta Maeda (4-3): 6⅔ IP, 2 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts

LP - Kyle Freeland (4-5): 6⅓ IP, 6 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts

Sv - Kenley Jansen (10): 1 IP, 1 hit, 3 strikeouts