Maeda (5-4) struck out a season-high nine and held the Rockies to a single run on five hits and a walk over 6.2 innings Wednesday, but was stuck with a tough-luck loss.
May wasn't Maeda's month -- he failed to last longer than five innings in four consecutive starts to close out the month, giving up four runs in three of those -- but he's pitched into the seventh in each of his first two games of June. All in all, despite a fastball that averages less than 90 miles per hour, the 28-year-old Japanese rookie has been every bit as good as advertised -- and considering he's just learning his way around Major League Baseball, it's quite possible that we still haven't seen the best of Maeda yet.