LOS ANGELES -AP- Justin Turner stepped to the plate in his first at-bat since coming off the disabled list and immediately hit a two-run homer. It was like he never was gone.
The Los Angeles Dodgers used the early lead and Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda combining on a five-hitter to roll past the Cincinnati Reds 7-2 Friday night.
"It just feels good to be back in there," Turner said. "I used (rookie) Cody Bellinger's bat. There must be home runs in it."
 
 
Hill, Maeda combine to five-hit Reds in Dodgers' 7-2 win
 
 
 
Enrique Hernandez added a solo home run in the Dodgers' nine-hit attack. Franklin Gutierrez, without a hit since May 16, had two hits Friday, including a two-run single in the fourth.
The Reds were held to two hits by Hill (3-2) in his five innings, while Maeda made his first relief appearance since his 2008 rookie season in Japan to earn the save.
Maeda retired his first nine Reds until Joey Votto led off the ninth with his 17th home run. He allowed three hits, all in the ninth, did not walk a batter and struck out six.
"I thought he threw as well as he has all season," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
Maeda was only removed from the Dodgers rotation this week. In 10 starts he had a 5.16 ERA.
"I was a starter my whole life and it was disappointing," Maeda said through a translator. "The best situation is that with good results I'll be back in the rotation."
After giving up the two-run homer to Turner in the first Garrett got into a different kind of trouble in the second.
Austin Barnes led off with a blistering comebacker and Garrett instinctively threw his hands up at the ball. The ball appeared to hit him in the palm of bare left hand. He went down and stayed there for some time, finally rising to make a few practice throws before leaving the game. X-rays were negative and he diagnosed with a bruised hand.
"It doesn't look like there's going to be any longstanding issues," said Reds manager Bryan Price. "If he feels OK tomorrow then he'll be able to throw his regular bullpen and get ready for his next start."
MAEDA ROTATION
Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu was in the same position as Kenta last month, pitched well in relief and quickly found himself back in the rotation. It's the model Kenta is hoping to follow: Said Roberts: "Kenta's very competitive and wanted to show that he's worthy of another opportunity in the rotation. We understand that he's trying to get out. We all get that. But I think today in that small sample is more what we need to see from Kenta."
GARRETT STUNNED
The Reds left-hander admitted he was frightened after first being struck by Barnes' comebacker: "At the moment I didn't know. I thought, `It's broken.' It hurt, it was numb. I couldn't feel. But after it calmed down a little bit -- 30 minutes, 45 minutes -- it was fine. It's just bruised now. So, it's good."
 

Comments are closed.