Joc Pederson Powers Dodgers Past Giants 3-1 in Rubber Match

LOS ANGELES – Three…two…one…blast off!

It took Joc Pederson one swing to send a pitch into orbit on Sunday and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the rival San Francisco Giants, 3-1, taking the rubber match of the three-game series.

Pederson hit a 2-2 fastball deep into the right field pavilion off San Francisco starter Jeff Samardzija in the bottom of the fifth inning and with one swing L.A. went from losing by one, to leading by one.

"It's not easy to get hits in the big league," Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts said. "Joc had a huge hit for us tonight, it's a grind and it's tough. For him to respond the way he did today after last night shows growth and hopefully he can continue to get better."

The Dodgers tacked on an insurance run in the bottom half of the seventh after right fielder Yasiel Puig led off the inning with a single and a stolen base. Two pitches later, Yasmani Grandal singled him home and L.A. had a 3-1 lead.

Kenta Maeda made the start for L.A. in his first taste of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry. The Japanese right-hander allowed a solo home run to Joe Panik in the top of the third inning that snapped his scoreless innings streak at 14 and 2/3, passing Pedro Astacio for third best to start a career in Dodgers history.

Maeda (2-0) settled down from there and was locked in the rest of the way. He allowed just one run on four hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings (his longest start of the season).

"He stopped trying to make the perfect pitch and just threw the ball," catcher Grandal said. "After that, he just kept rolling and rolling and rolling."

Once maligned, the bullpen came through again as Chris Hatcher and Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively. Jansen earned his fifth save of the season.

The Dodgers won their second consecutive series and have won three of four series to start the season overall. With the win, L.A. (8-5) leapfrogged the Colorado Rockies (7-5) for sole possession of first place in the National League West.

Players of the Game:

Joc Pederson: Two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Kenta Maeda: 1 run, 4 hits, 7 strikeouts in 7 IP.
Joe Panik: Solo home run in the top of the third inning.

Three Takeaways:

1. Maeda of Steel: Kenta Maeda had a chance at the Dodgers all-time scoreless innings streak to start a career (18.1 Dave Stewart), but the Japanese right-hander allowed a solo homer to Joe Panik in the third inning. Maeda settled down from there, shutting down San Francisco, allowing just one run in seven innings.

Longest scoreless streak to start career, LA Dodgers (per Elias):
Dave Stewart 18⅓
Bob Welch 15⅓
Kenta Maeda 14 (2 tonight)
Pedro Astacio 14 — Eric Stephen (@truebluela) April 18, 2016

2. Joc Jams: One night after a paltry performance against the Giants in a 4-3 loss that saw Pederson pop out in foul territory in the bottom of the ninth with one-out and a runner on third, Joc was the hero on Sunday with a go-ahead two-run bomb in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Details on the Joc Pederson two-run home run. pic.twitter.com/zT5wIsdOKb — Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) April 18, 2016

3. Balanced Bullpen: After struggling in San Francisco and one game at home, the Dodgers bullpen as been fantastic of late, throwing seven scoreless innings over the last two games.

That's 12 consecutive scoreless innings for #Dodgers bullpen. — Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) April 17, 2016

Up Next:

Giants (7-6): San Francisco returns to the confines of AT&T Park on Monday when Jake Peavy takes the mound against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Dodgers (8-5): Los Angeles will have a day off on Monday before heading to Atlanta as Alex Wood faces his former team on Tuesday at 4:10PM PST.

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