May 25, 2017

The Dodgers are finding all kinds of creative ways to use their abundance of starting pitching.  On Thursday night they got 5 strong innings from Kenta Maeda and another 4 solid innings from Hyun-Jin Ryu to beat the Cardinals 7-3.  The Dodgers took two out of three from the Cardinals during their 3-game set.

Maeda (4-2) picked up the win after giving up just 3 runs on 7 hits.  He struck out 4 and walked 2, while throwing 78 pitches.  Maeda also delivered a 2-run single during a 3-run 4th inning that saw the Dodgers take the lead for good, after the Cardinals had jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

Ryu was convinced by skipper Dave Roberts to come out of the bullpen.  He reluctantly agreed, but pitched very well in his first stint.  He allowed just 2 hits while pitching 4 shutout innings.  That effort earned him his 1st career save.

The Cards got 3 in the 1st inning after Jedd Gyorko hit a 2-run double, followed by a Yadier Molina RBI single.

Michal Wacha (2-2) took the loss after giving up 6 runs on 7 hits.  He lasted only 4 innings before giving way to the St. Louis bullpen.

LA began their comeback in the 2nd inning when Chase Utley connected on a solo homer to right center field.  Yasiel Puig added an RBI single in the 4th, followed by Maeda’s 2 RBI.

A wild pitch from Brett Cecil in the 5th allowed another Dodger run, making it 5-3.  Adrian Gonzales and Chris Taylor would each provide an RBI double later on, which rounded out the scoring.

Up next for the Dodgers will be a 3-game weekend set with the Cubs at the Ravine beginning Friday night.  Alex Wood (5-0, 1.88 ERA) gets the ball for the boys in blue, while the Cubs counter with Jake Arrieta (5-3, 4.80 ERA).