LOS ANGELES _ Come October, Dave Roberts probably will be handing Kenta Maeda the ball near the end of games.
But on Saturday, the Los Angeles Dodgers' manager sat back and relaxed while Maeda cruised through his best start in months, if not the season: a scoreless seven-inning, three-hit, six-strikeout gem in a 4-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in front of 52,606 at Dodger Stadium.
This time last season, Maeda was gearing up for his move to the bullpen _ an annual exercise for the right-hander. His final start in 2018 was exactly a year ago Saturday. After that, he spent the rest of the regular season in the bullpen. As he did in 2017, he made all of his postseason appearances as a reliever as well. In 17 career playoff relief outings, Maeda has a 2.08 ERA and .212 batting average against.
The Dodgers are expected to shift Maeda back to the bullpen again this year. His mid-summer slump _ Maeda entered Saturday with an 0-6 record and 5.26 ERA over his past 12 appearances _ only strengthened that belief.
Saturday's performance, in which he earned his first win since May 31, probably won't change the plan. But it might make Dodgers brass think a little harder about removing him from the rotation.
"Anything is possible. We still have a lot of baseball to play," Roberts said. "Going into the postseason, we want the best guys making starts and guys we feel in the 'pen that can be successful with matchups."
Before the game, Roberts said he wanted to see the right-hander be more aggressive, sequence his pitches better, and "not be so predictable."
Maeda listened, mixing in sliders and changeups early in counts to get ahead and keep Arizona hitters off balance. He faced the minimum number of hitters in five of seven innings and allowed only one batter to reach second base. He didn't walk anyone for the fourth time in a start this season. He exited after 93 stress-free pitches.
Max Muncy opened the scoring with a towering 429-foot second-inning solo home run to center field off Arizona starter Alex Young (4-2). An inning later, Kristopher Negron doubled the lead with an RBI single.
The Dodgers tacked on a couple more in the fourth. Russell Martin picked up his sixth RBI in the last six games with a single. Corey Seager scored from third on a safety squeeze from Maeda.
The Dodgers (78-41) maintained the best record in baseball and extended their NL West lead over the second-place Diamondbacks to 18 games. With seven weeks left in the regular season, they're already in position to switch to cruise control _ which, in the past, is usually when Maeda (8-8) has been reassigned.
His presence in a beleaguered bullpen would be welcomed agaom this year. His sparkling start, however, was a reminder that he can have an impact on the pitching staff from the rotation too.
"We see Kenta as a starter," Roberts said. "The job for him is to go out there and keep pitching and make our job more difficult."
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