Final game of the Freeway Series for 2026. A year ago, the Angels were one game away from sweeping, now, they are one away from being swept. How things can change, despite the overall narrative being the same. The Dodgers are once again WS favorites, Angels worst team in baseball contenders.
Soriano wasn’t going down without a fight, however. He went 6x innings, giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits, striking out 2 and walking 2. Not as good as Detmers on Friday, but he did not need to be. Because for the first time this series, the Angels bats were awake and they gave ample run support. Enough for a Soriano, at least. An Angels bullpen, well, there can never be too many runs for THAT.
Seriously, the bottom of the Angels lineup HARD carried. 6-9 went 13-15 with 4 walks and a sac bunt. Rivero personally had 6 RBI as he somehow found the OF grass time after time after time.
Highlighted Recap
Angels struck first with a 2 run single by Rivero.
However, the Dodgers got one back in the 3rd
Rivero put the team on his back and delivered again with another 2 run single in the 4th!
Siri added 2 more in the 5th, although it could have been more with a faster Madrigal, or if he stayed at 3rd,
Adell saw that his DRS was still negative so he made a good defensive play today too.
Things got slugfest though, as Soriano gave up a home run in the 6th after a Neto error
And another right after
Every Angel fan groaned as this game was being blown, but the bottom of the lineup said F that!
First Adell hit a BOMB
Then Rivero had a 5th RBI
And Neto finally joined the hit parade
Rivero have yourself a 5 hit game with a 6th RBI in the 9th!
Angels win, finally ending their losing streak vs the Dodgers, avoiding the series and season sweep.
Upcoming
Trashos come to town on Monday, and then the Rays this next weekend.
If we play like that every game – we’re the best team in baseball. — Perry Minasian
Trade O’Hoppe, keep Rivero…….LOL
Glad that the home team got trounced today.
The top average hitter in all of baseball…Brandon Marsh. Ripped a homer in his 3rd straight game.
That trade is aging so poorly. I don’t want to overreact as Marsh could hit a Ward-like swoon but I know O’Hoppe is finished. I was dead wrong.
Yeah…aging like milk.
As someone who was there, I’ve got to say how impressed I was by both of Madrigal’s at-bats.
I tried to explain to my 7-year-old how much he impacted the game, but she wasn’t having it. My middle-aged honky ass, on the other hand, thoroughly appreciated getting to witness him grind out those plate appearances.
And getting to watch the Halos pump the Evil Empire was a nice respite from this season from hell.
I only saw the 14 pitch walk. Did he do it again? That at bat absolutely rattled Sheehan – who twice thought he had a k. But it also took him to stressful inning stage. A playoff team like the Dodgers is smart to not stress their guys. They say that every pitch over 30 in an inning has the stress of 3 pitches. So if you go 45 pitches in an inning- it’s like going 75.
He had another 12-pitch walk where he successfully challenged called strike 3 to bring the count full. I swear it looked like the umpire wanted to call ball 4 a strike but managed to hold it in to avoid a 4th successful challenge.
Glad Neto hit it over the fence because he watched it again. I hate that
“In a season that seemed improbable, the impossible has happened!”
Most wins won’t matter from here on out but this one was good
We got the win l wanted. Now I can tell dogers fans that we got the season sweep last year. You guys came close, but no cigar.
Hahahahaha. People were salty.
Trout had a forgettable series.
Thankful for not getting swept. Everyone is happy with the one game win streak, and now tickets are gonna disappear for tomorrow’s Kikuchi bobble head night?? Doubtful; team is still bad at home, Kikuchi practically forgotten, Trouts playing awful and it’s the Astros. I will be there, can’t resist Arte’s cheap plastic giveaways.
Wonder if they will have Kikuchi handing out his bobbleheads ala Peter Bourjos?
…with his right hand…
Cool, I’ll get him to sign it!! Lol
My 3 ⭐️
Rivero
Adell
Sori – what an inept defense
Neto Sombrero strikes again. Papa Smurf has to much swag for me. Rengifo-Neto needs some humble bench time or some 2B time. Squints needs to find a Wendy Peppercorn and get back on track.
Mecklers twin
Meckler
LTBU!
Great postgame interview of Rivero. He’s more articulate than many other players.
We just saw his career day. Being a player who has never come close to the Mendoza line, ever, this will be something he can fondly remember. Good dude.
An amazing game that included significant highs and Lows.
Would have bet my mortgage we would blow it…