Maeda (10-4) twirled a gem Tuesday, firing seven scoreless frames with six strikeouts in a 3-2 win over the Braves.
Maeda is currently auditioning to keep his spot in the rotation following the acquisition of Yu Darvish at the trade deadline, so the timing of his dominant outing couldn't have been any better. Tuesday's start put a cap on a six-game stretch where the veteran has posted a 5-1 record to go along with a 2.20 ERA. One thing working against the 29-year-old has been an inability to go deep into games (just four of his 19 starts have lasted longer than five innings), which could eventually land the righty back in the bullpen for the second time this season. As of right now, both Clayton Kershaw (back) and Brandon McCarthy (finger) remain on the disabled list, so Maeda's spot in the rotation is safe, but manager Dave Roberts will have a tough decision to make regarding who will be his fifth starter down the stretch once all his arms are healthy.