Dodgers end three-game skid in 7-4 win over Diamondbacks
Kenta Maeda clutched his right leg, rolled onto his back and let his face contort into a mask of pain. With the crowd at Chase Field hushed and a group of concerned Dodgers surrounding him, Maeda tucked his head into the crook of his left elbow. A line drive had just struck his leg, and the aftershocks could linger beyond Tuesday’s 7-4 victory over the Diamondbacks.
The injury spoiled an otherwise heartening evening. Joc Pederson boomed a pair of home runs. Justin Turner clobbered a homer of his own. Chase Utley drove in four runs and put the game away with a two-run blast in the seventh inning as the Dodgers (34-32) snapped a three-game skid.
But in the bottom of the sixth, Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt unleashed a 95-mph screamer back toward the mound and the entire tenor of the night changed. The baseball appeared to hit just beneath Maeda’s kneecap. He managed to pick up the offending object and throw Goldschmidt out at first. As the ball nestled into Adrian Gonzalez’s glove, Maeda crumpled in front of the mound.
Maeda stayed down for two minutes. A member of the training staff helped him to his feet. Maeda could not place weight on his right leg. Wrapping an arm around a trainer and another around hitting coach Turner Ward, he limped off the diamond, down the dugout steps and into the visitors’ clubhouse.
An X-ray examination of Maeda’s leg revealed no fracture. Neither did the X-ray on Andre Ethier’s broken right leg in March. The coming days will determine how Maeda recovers. He gave up three runs, one unearned, in his 5 1/3 innings.
An onslaught of ailments has already forced teenager Julio Urias and swingman Mike Bolsinger into the Dodgers rotation. An injury to Maeda could return Ross Stripling to the major leagues, or the organization could reach into its stockpile of prospects like Zach Lee, Carlos Frias and Frankie Montas.
The situation created another headache for a club already dealing with an intermittent lineup. The issues are not difficult to discern. Even the manager’s teenage son understands the imperative of offensive consistency. As a gag, a few hours before the game, Cole Roberts sat in the dugout for an interview with reporters. Asked what the team needed to accomplish against Bradley, Cole was succinct.
“Hit,” he said. “Score runs.”
Watching from a few feet away, his father cracked up. It is easier to laugh than it is to weep. A day after Zack Greinke quieted his former teammates, Bradley hoped to become the latest pitcher to see his earned-run average descend after tangling with the Dodgers.
Bradley, a former first-round pick, allowed three runs or more in four of his five starts before Tuesday. He struck out six through the game’s first four innings.
By then, the Dodgers already trailed by two. Maeda lost a first-inning battle with leadoff hitter Jean Segura, who cracked a double on the 10th pitch of the at-bat. Segura scored on a hit by third baseman Jake Lamb.
Segura sparked another rally in the third. He poked a two-out single. Lamb walked. Facing Goldschmidt, Maeda spotted a knee-high, 90-mph fastball on the inner half. Goldschmidt still hit an RBI single up the middle.
Heading into the fifth, Bradley had yet to allow a hit. Pederson ended his bid for history with brute force. He bashed a 3-1 fastball over the fence in right. After a pair of walks, Utley roped a two-run single for the team’s third hit in their last 29 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Maeda frittered the lead away in the bottom of the frame. After giving up a single to outfielder Michael Bourn, he fielded a bunt attempt and skipped a throw past Gonzalez. Bourn raced home to tie the game.
The most encouraging aspect of a losing weekend in San Francisco was the resurgence of Justin Turner. He continued his hot streak by crushing a curveball into the left-center seats to give his team the lead in the sixth. Two batters later, Pederson demolished another fastball from Bradley for another homer.
In the seventh, Utley punished reliever Zac Curtis for a hanging slider by hitting his fifth home run of the season. The two-run shot allowed his team to relax.
In theory, the X-ray of Maeda’s leg should also give the Dodgers a chance to exhale. But bad luck has trailed this team since camp opened in February. The group will soon learn if Maeda can end that streak.
Twitter: @McCulloughTimes
Are you a true-blue fan?
Get our Dodgers Dugout newsletter for insights, news and much more.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
