Dodger lefty Paul Maholm, now in his 10th
season, understands his role on the Los Angeles pitching staff.
On occasional starter and bullpen reliever,
Maholm entered last night’s game against San Diego with 1-4 record and 5.18
ERA. An injury to Josh Beckett gave him the chance to start for the first time
since May 14 and he delivered with a two-hitter through six innings in a 1-0
win over San Diego that pushed the Dodgers a game ahead of the Giants in the NL
West.
"In the back of my head, I still want to
start every fifth day," said Maholm. "But our rotation has done
really well, there's no complaints that way. But I wanted to prove to myself
that I can still do it. The last time I started, I gave up 10 runs [five earned].
I've done this a long time. So I was in my comfort zone. It wasn't something
different. I just went back to my normal routine."
"I had no expectations coming into the
game," he said. "I just went hitter to hitter. I wanted to go deep
and didn't want to hang the guys out in the bullpen."
Brandon League, J.P. Howell and Kenley Jansen
picked up Maholm out of the pen and A.J. Ellis plated Adrian Gonzalez with a
sac fly to right in the ninth for the walkoff win.
Gonzalez doubled to right center to open the
inning and moved to third on walks to Andre Ethier and Juan Uribe off San Diego
reliever Kevin Quakenbush.
San Diego’s Ian Kennedy pitched a three-hitter
over eight innings but left the game with no decision.
The Dodgers close out the first half of the
season today with Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-5, 3.65) on the bump.
The Dodgers will send Clayton Kershaw, Zack
Greinke, Dee Gordon and Yasiel Puig to Tuesday’s All-Star game at Target Field
in Minneapolis.
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