LOS ANGELES _ There were bookend celebrations in Dodger Stadium on Saturday, the team unveiling a statue of Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson outside the left-field reserve plaza in the afternoon and closer Kenley Jansen recording the final four outs of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks to cap the evening.
In between, two early exits were cause for concern. Neither hot-hitting second baseman Logan Forsythe nor struggling pitcher Kenta Maeda made it past the fourth inning, Forsythe leaving because of right hamstring tightness and Maeda departing with a bloated 7.07 earned-run average after three starts.
On the plus side, the Dodgers, who lost four of their first five games against left-handed starters, throttled left-hander Patrick Corbin for five runs and nine hits in six innings.
Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood was dominant in 3 1/3 innings of hitless relief in which he struck out three batters, and left-hander Luis Avilan struck out Jake Lamb for the second out of the eighth inning.
Utility man Enrique Hernandez, who moved from left field to second base in the fifth, preserved a 5-4 lead when, with a runner on second base, he raced into shallow right field to snag Brandon Drury's pop-up _ and avoid what would have been a nasty collision with right fielder Yasiel Puig _ to end the eighth.
Puig is thick and muscular, 6-foot-2 and 238 pounds. Hernandez is 5-11, 200. It is a collision Hernandez might not have walked away from.
"If it were me, I would have probably ran away from the ball," said manager Dave Roberts, a former outfielder. "But (Enrique) was fearless. It was a huge out, and it could have changed the game."
Puig then gave the Dodgers some breathing room in the bottom of the eighth when he capped a three-hit night by lining a three-run homer to left field, his team-leading fourth, to drive in Corey Seager, who had doubled with two outs, and Justin Turner, who was hit by a Fernando Rodney high-and-tight pitch.
"There were a lot of good things tonight," Roberts said.
And some not-so-good things. The injury to Forsythe, who doubled and singled twice to raise his average to .450 (nine for 20) against left-handers, will sideline him at least Sunday.
"My level of concern is not very high," Forsythe said. "It feels fine right now."
Maeda gave up four earned runs and four hits in four innings, striking out five and walking one. The velocity of his fastball dipped from 94 mph in the first inning to 90-92 mph in the second.
Maeda gave up a three-run homer to Nick Ahmed in the second and an RBI single to Ahmed in the fourth. He threw several fat breaking balls. With the top of a predominantly left-handed-hitting order due up in the fifth, Roberts went to the bullpen.
"The hope is for guys to go deep into games, but as I see how the game is playing out, I have to make certain decisions," Roberts said. "My eyes told me tonight that it was time for Woody to relieve Kenta."
The offense made sure Maeda didn't take a loss. Three straight hits by Forsythe (double), Seager (single) and Turner (double) and Puig's sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the first. Austin Barnes' first big-league homer, off the left-field foul pole in the second, tied the score, 3-3.
The Dodgers tied it, 4-4, in the fourth on Seager's sacrifice fly and were gifted the go-ahead run on a fifth-inning error.
