There’s something that is just so satisfying about punching a bully right in the mouth. Tonight the Angels took on the big, bad behemoth from up the 5 and threw the first punch. And kept on punching.
After Jose Soriano pitched a scoreless top of the 1st inning, Zach Neto wasted no time putting the Angels on the board.
Mike Trout would come around to score on a Yoan Moncada single to put the Angels up 2-0 later in the 1st inning.
Jose Soriano was cruising tonight. He kept the Dodgers off the board through 7 innings. The boys in blue didn’t even get a man into scoring position until the 7th inning and even then Soriano induced a double play to escape the trouble.
Dodgers starter Yamamoto was able to keep the Angels off the board in the second through fourth innings, but the Angels bats knocked him around in the 5th inning.
First, Mike Trout came up big with a single to score 2. His inside out swing to push the ball to right center was a thing of beauty.
Two more runs came around to score in the inning. Yoan Moncada again came up with an RBI hit, this one punching in Nolan Schanuel and moving Taylor Ward to 3rd base. Ward then came around to score on a Gustavo Campero chopper to short. That was a big moment for Campero, who came into the game after Jo Adell was ejected by the home plate umpire.
6-0 after the 5th inning and Angels fans were feeling good. They had the bully on the ropes with more innings completed than remaining. But against this team, and in this series, there’s no such thing as a truly safe lead.
Zach Neto added to the lead with his second home run of the night in the 6th inning. 7-0 Angels with 3 innings to go. Neto reached base all 5 times he came to the plate tonight.
One thing about bullies, is that they are usually pretty tough. So are the Dodgers. Luis Garcia loaded the bases with one out in the 7th before getting a very fortunate double play ball. They didn’t score, but they showed they were still swinging. And in the 8th inning, they connected and connected hard.
For some reason, Angels manager Ray Montgomery put Shaun Anderson on the mound and the Dodgers teed off.
Shohei Ohtani led off the frame with a towering shot to right field. 7-1, still 6 outs to go. A single by Mookie Betts then another by Will Smith put 2 Dodgers on base when Max Muncy stepped to the plate. Muncy parked a home run to right field to cut the lead to 7-4.
Campero suffered what appeared to be a pretty significant ankle injury. The game was stopped for several minutes and Campero was ultimately carted off the field.
Thankfully when the game resumed Anderson was no longer pitching. Conor Brogdon came in, threw 3 strikes, and ended the frame. An Angels scoring threat in the bottom of the 8th was scuttled by a horrible home plate umpire. What should have been a walk to load the bases was called strike 3 to Nolan Schanuel and the inning ended with Mike Trout on deck.
Shaun Anderson turned the Angels safe lead into a save situation, giving Kenley Jansen an opportunity to face his old club and sports writers everywhere and easy storyline. Kenley shut the door and secured the 7-4 win.
Light up the Halo!!! Angels Win!!!!
With the win, the Angels move to 4 and 0 against the Dodgers in 2025. San Diego beat San Francisco to cut the Dodgers NL West lead to a single game. Let’s hope we can help our neighbors to the south again tomorrow.
