Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
A Freeway Series at home for two games started off with a pitchers’ duel early as both sides exchanged zeroes. That was broken by a Shohei Ohtani (who else) homer, but the Angels came right back as Dodgers relievers couldn’t not hit Angels batters, and things eventually went into extras. It was there that the lineup really got exposed, as the bottom of it just couldn’t do anything and the Dodgers fell 3-2 in 10.
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With injuries piling up and the Dodgers still wanting to get their guys rest, it was Landon Knack tonight and he was excellent again. He didn’t allow more than one baserunner in an inning, though he only got one clean frame as well.
The Angels actually only had one at-bat with RISP before he exited the game: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 73 Pitches.
On the other side the Dodgers were being kept pretty quiet as well. Patrick Sandoval faced minimal trouble in the first two frames, but then gave up a single, got an out, and on a pitch that walked Ohtani, he grimaced and shook his elbow out in what didn’t look like a good injury.
Not what you want to see for Patrick Sandoval. pic.twitter.com/rbEkixQKr0
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) June 22, 2024
The Angels pen got out of that jam for him, and then got the 4th in order as well. However, the 5th saw the game’s first runs, as a two-out single from Austin Barnes that deflected off Zach Neto‘s glove proved important when Ohtani stepped up and drilled a massive homer to center for his 22nd of the year and a 2-0 lead.
SHOHEI GOES YARD AGAIN!
— MLB (@MLB) June 22, 2024
His 5th homer in 6 games comes against his former team ? pic.twitter.com/rAaIDxTZCL
Taking over for Knack in the 6th was Ryan Yarbrough and he immediately put the Angels in business. He hit a batter, allowed a single, struck a guy out, then hit two more in a row to force a run in. The tying run then scored on a groundout, and he miraculously got out of it without further damage. Thankfully, he got a 1-2-3 frame in the 7th, so at least it was still 2-2.
As the Dodger bats weren’t doing anything, it was Yohan Ramirez in the 8th, and he too started by hitting a batter, but he bounced back by striking out the next three. Anthony Banda then got the 9th and cruised through a perfect inning. That set the bats up for a walk-off opportunity, but of course the Dodgers stayed quiet as they had since Ohtani’s homer.
BONUS BASEBALL
Banda continued in the 10th, getting a batter on a sacrifice, but the runner advanced to third. That brought in Evan Phillips, who got a groundout into a drawn-in infield, but Taylor Ward grounded a single to put the Angels up 3-2.
With the game on the line, a Jason Heyward groundout advanced the runner to third, but Enrique Hernandez and Gavin Lux both struck out to end it.
Tends to happen when you have like only a few guys in the lineup any opposing team fears.
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 47-31 |
| Diamondbacks | 38-38 (8 GB) |
*Either still playing or will play later.
Tomorrow’s game is also the finale of the two-game series, starting at the same time of 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET. It’ll be Tyler Glasnow up against Zach Plesac.
