Dodgers 6, Angels 2: Pitching staffs duel into extras, where Miguel Rojas & Mookie Betts play hero

Chad Moriyama 09/03/2024 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

The focus of today’s game was always going to be Shohei Ohtani‘s return to Anaheim, and that did definitely have a moment to start things off.

But the pitchers for both teams had other ideas, as they barely gave up much to either offenses and things were sent into extras. There it was the Dodgers who pulled away behind another Miguel Rojas clutch hit and a Mookie Betts big blow to take the game 6-2 over the Angels.

The Dodgers are a win away from making it six series wins in a row.

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Coming of a nice start his last time out that was derailed by defensive blunders, Walker Buehler continued his momentum today, not facing a ton of resistance and getting a bunch of swings and misses.

Obviously the two big exceptions were solo homers from Logan O’Hoppe and Taylor Ward, but this was definitely a start to build on and is the kind of thing that’s been missing from him.

Maybe removed a bit early to let him leave with a good feeling or something: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 83 Pitches.

On the other side was Reid Detmers, making his first start in over three months, but not looking much worse for wear.

The main rally for the Dodgers came in the 3rd, as a lead-off walk to Rojas was cashed in by a one-out Ohtani triple, and Mookie singled Ohtani home for the second run. However, after a Mookie steal and a Freddie Freeman single cornered the runners, back-to-back strikeouts left the chance wasted.

Detmers then sat down the next nine batters in a row, getting the Angels staff through the 6th, and things were still tied up at 2-2 at that point.

Out of the Dodgers pen, Daniel Hudson took over in the other half of the 6th and cruised through a 12-pitch inning with a pair of strikeouts. Evan Phillips followed in the 7th and got a groundout with a couple of flyouts. Blake Treinen was next up in the 8th, and he also got a clean inning on just 11 pitches. Then Michael Kopech completed the pen’s perfect run by getting a trio of flyouts in the 9th.

Unfortunately, the bats didn’t get much going against the Angels pen in their three innings either, only having a half-chance in the 8th when a walk was balked to second with two outs. Didn’t help that Ben Joyce was out there throwing 106 mph with command.

EXTRA BASEBALL

The 10th started with a groundout to move the Manfred Runner over, and Rojas immediately singled to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead.

Another groundout advanced the runner to second, so Ron Washington gave Ohtani a free pass. Well, it seems like Mookie took that personally, smashing a three-run shot (15th) on the first pitch to blow the game open at 6-2.

Yeah, he took it personally.

To close things out, now with a comfortable margin, was Ryan Brasier, who gave up a flyout, infield pop, and another flyout.

——

A foul taint.

Technically true.

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NL WESTRECORD
Dodgers84-55
Padres79-61 (5.5 GB)
Diamondbacks77-61 (6.5 GB)*

*Still playing.

The series finale will be tomorrow already at the same time of 3:38 PM HT/6:38 PM PT/9:38 PM ET. It’ll be Bobby Miller also looking to build on his last couple of outings against Griffin Canning.

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