The Walk Off: Kenta Maeda continues historic start to MLB career

Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.

It’s been 35 years since Fernandomania took over Los Angeles. Now it’s Kentamania, or perhaps you prefer Maedamania, that’s taking over, as 28-year-old right-hander Kenta Maeda continues spinning gems.

In the Dodgers 4-1 victory against the Rockies on Saturday, Maeda pitched 6.1 scoreless innings. From a historical perspective, that made him the first pitcher ever to allow just up one total run in his first four MLB starts. No one else has done that. Not Clayton Kershaw. Not Greg Maddux. Not Pedro Martinez. Maeda stands alone, and it looks like he’ll be standing for a long time to come.

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(APi) It’s interesting too, because Saturday’s start took many of us back 20 years when another right-hander from Japan, Hideo Nomo, made history by firing a no-hitter against the Rockies at Coors Field. Maeda threatened to repeat history by holding the Rockies hitless into the sixth inning. He would end up allowing three hits, but lowered his ERA to a remarkable 0.36. Maeda was also credit with his third win.

There’s no doubt Maeda is making the exact impact Los Angeles hoped he would, though some challenges do lie ahead still. Mainly, there will adjustments made by the hitters he’ll face, which will force Maeda to adjust as well.

That will be interesting to watch play out. However, Maeda has had hitters so off balance so far that’s it difficult to imagine him not staying one step ahead.

TOP PERFORMERS

Colby Rasmus: If only Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz had thrown Rasmus another curveball, this game may have been different. After getting two swinging strikes with the curve, Buchholz tried to sneak a fastball by, and he paid. Rasmus turned on it and deposited a tie-breaking grand slam into the right field seats, which helped the Astros to an 8-3 victory. Rasmus would later add an RBI double to complete a huge afternoon.

Ezequiel Carrera, Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki: Together, these three Blue Jays were a combined 10-for-14 with three home runs, six RBIs and seven run scored. Two of the homers belonged to Tulowitzki, which doubled his season total. Donaldson also hit his seventh as Toronto cruised to a 9-3 win against the A’s.

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Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo: Baltimore’s offense was on fire in Saturday’s 8-3 victory against the Royals. Davis led the attack with with four hits, including his sixth home run of the season. Meanwhile, Trumbo collected to three hits to raise his batting average to .381. He knocked in four.

Yan Gomes: Cleveland’s catcher did it on both sides in the Indians 10-1 win over the Tigers. At the plate, he was 3-for-5 with five RBIs and three runs scored. Behind the plate, he called an excellent game for Corey Kluber, who snapped his early season slump with 10 strikeouts over eight innings.

MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT

Coming into Saturday the focus was on Rays rookie Blake Snell, who was making his MLB debut. Snell did well, allowing one run on two hits over five innings, but Brett Gardner stole the headlines. First, he tied the game with his seventh-inning single. Two innings later, he gave New York a 3-2 win with a walk-off homer that was a no doubter.

THE SCOREBOARD

Nationals 2, Twins 0: Washington struck out a franchise record 18 batters, including 15 from starter Tanner Roark.

White Sox 4, Rangers 3 (11 innings): The White Sox won a fun back-and-forth game to improve to 12-6 on the young season. Jose Abreu had the game-winning hit with a walk-off single in the 11th.

Mets 8, Braves 2: Make that five wins in six games for the Mets. Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera each homered in the ninth while David Wright doubled twice.

Reds 13, Cubs 5: Cincinnati finally solved the puzzle, defeating Chicago for the first time in six tries. Eugenio Suarez led the way with three hits and four RBIs, while Adam Duvall added a three-run homer.

Diamondbacks 7, Pirates 1: Chris Herrmann homered and drove in four as Arizona wins its sixth in seven games.

Phillies 10, Brewers 6: After homering twice on Friday, Maikel Franco stayed hot with three hits, including another home, while driving in four.

Cardinals 11, Padres 2: St. Louis scored all 11 runs over the last four innings. Jeremy Hazelbaker hit a three-run pinch-hit homer that blew the game open.

Giants 7, Marlins 2: San Francisco makes it two in a row over Barry Bonds and the Marlins. Jake Peavy pitched seven innings, allowing two runs.

Angels 4, Marliners 2: Mike Trout put on a show with a homer, double and an outfield assist.

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