Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks despite another rough start for Kenta Maeda

There were bookend celebrations in Dodger Stadium on Saturday, the team unveiling a statue of Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson outside the left-field reserve plaza in the afternoon and closer Kenley Jansen recording the final four outs of the Dodgers’ 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks to cap the evening.

In between, two early exits were cause for concern. Neither hot-hitting second baseman Logan Forsythe nor struggling pitcher Kenta Maeda made it past the fourth inning, Forsythe leaving because of right hamstring tightness and Maeda departing with a bloated 7.07 ERA after three starts.

On the plus side, the Dodgers, who lost four of their first five games against left-handed starters, throttled left-hander Patrick Corbin for five runs and nine hits in six innings.

Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood was dominant in 31/3 innings of hitless relief in which he struck out three batters, and left-hander Luis Avilan struck out Jake Lamb for the second out of the eighth inning.

Enrique Hernandez, who moved from left field to second base in the fifth, preserved a 5-4 lead when, with a runner on second base, he raced into shallow right field to snag Brandon Drury’s popup, and avoid a nasty collision with right fielder Yasiel Puig, to end the eighth.

Puig is 6 feet 2 and 238 pounds. Hernandez is 5-11, 200.

“If it were me, I would have probably ran away from the ball,� said manager Dave Roberts, a former outfielder. “But [Enrique] was fearless. It was a huge out, and it could have changed the game.�

Puig capped a three-hit night with a three-run homer to left field in the eighth, his team-leading fourth, to drive in Corey Seager, who had doubled with two outs, and Justin Turner, who was hit by a Fernando Rodney high-and-tight pitch.

“There were a lot of good things tonight,� Roberts said.

And some not-so-good things. The injury to Forsythe, who doubled and singled twice to raise his average to .450 (nine for 20) against left-handers, will sideline him at least Sunday.

“My level of concern is not very high,� Forsythe said. “It feels fine right now.�

Maeda gave up four earned runs and four hits in four innings, striking out five and walking one. His fastball dipped from 94 mph in the first inning to 90-92 mph in the second.

Maeda gave up a three-run homer to Nick Ahmed in the second and an RBI single to Ahmed in the fourth.

“The hope is for guys to go deep into games, but as I see how the game is playing out, I have to make certain decisions,� Roberts said. “My eyes told me tonight that it was time for Woody to relieve Kenta.�

Consecutive hits by Forsythe (double), Seager (single) and Turner (double), and Puig’s sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the first. Austin Barnes’ first big league homer, off the left-field foul pole in the second, tied the score 3-3.

The Dodgers tied it 4-4 in the fourth on Seager’s sacrifice fly and were gifted the go-ahead run on a fifth-inning error.

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