LOS ANGELES_A Los Angeles Dodgers season defined by adaptation and experimentation _ in which the starting pitchers reshuffle on a weekly basis, infielders learn the outfield and outfielders throw bullpen sessions _ added another wrinkle in Friday night's 7-2 victory over Cincinnati.
Kenta Maeda plummeted out of the starting rotation last weekend. He had looked tentative and meek in his previous outings, unable to finish at-bats, unlikely to build more trust with manager Dave Roberts. Rather than option him to the minors, the Dodgers shipped him to their clearinghouse for wayward starters: The bullpen.
In his first relief appearance since 2008, when he was a 20-year-old playing for the Hiroshima Carp, Maeda offered a reminder of the pitcher he was for much of 2016. He became the second Dodger to record a four-inning save this season, joining Hyun-Jin Ryu, who relieved Maeda in a similar situation last month and finished a win over St. Louis. Ryu won back his spot in the rotation. Maeda lost his to make room.
As a starter this season Maeda has shown a propensity for sluggish beginnings. In his relief debut he stymied the Reds. Maeda struck out six and wavered only in the ninth, when he yielded a solo home run to former National League MVP Joey Votto. He offered a satisfying conclusion to a breezy victory.
The Dodgers (37-25) never trailed. Justin Turner inaugurated his return from the disabled list with a two-run homer in his first at-bat. Chris Taylor reached base three times and scored twice. Enrique Hernandez supplied a home run. Rich Hill (3-2, 3.77 earned-run average) bulled through early-game shakiness to hold the Reds to two hits across five innings of one-run baseball.
In Turner, the Dodgers welcomed back their most reliable hitter. He posted a .946 on-base-plus-slugging percentage before landing on the disabled list, despite having hit only one home run. "Having J.T., that quality at-bat, that professional at-bat, that ability to drive in a run, maybe hit a double, maybe hit a homer _ that's only going to make our offense better," Roberts said before the game.
Turner did not wait long to remind his teammates what they had missed. A walk by Taylor set the stage for Turner's return. He forced a 2-1 count against Reds rookie Amir Garrett. When Garrett tried a 91-mph fastball, Turner bashed it into the Dodgers bullpen beyond the left-field fence.
Hill suffered self-inflicted grief in the second and third innings. The Reds pushed his pitch count to 71 after nine outs. In the second, Hill permitted a leadoff walk after picking up two strikes on third baseman Eugenio Suarez. Hill made a wild throw on a swinging bunt by outfielder Patrick Kivlehan and allowed an RBI single to former Dodger Jose Peraza.
The third inning involved no runs but perhaps more irritation. In the bottom of the second, Garrett had left the game after getting cracked in the hand by a line drive hit by catcher Austin Barnes. In Garrett's place came reliever Jake Buchanan. Hill walked Buchanan to start the third.
Hill needed 35 pitches to finish the inning. Cincinnati shortstop Zack Cozart took another walk after an 11-pitch entanglement. Hill shook loose of the inning by getting Votto to fly out and Suarez to a ground out.
The Dodgers wrung two runs out of Buchanan in the third. After singles by Taylor and Franklin Gutierrez, Logan Forsythe walked to load the bases. Barnes bounced a fastball to the side of the mound, where Buchanan fielded it and made a wild throw. One run scored on Barnes' infield single, a second on Buchanan's error.
The fourth offered an identical bounty. Taylor led off with a double. Corey Seager walked. Turner got clipped by an inside fastball. Two runs scored on a single by Gutierrez, who had not recorded a hit since May 16.
Hill hung around to find a rhythm in his final two innings. He finished his evening by striking out Cozart with three fastballs in a row. Hill has yet to throw a pitch in the sixth inning of a game this season.
