The Angels grabbed the first run of the night the hard way. With traffic, contact, and just enough execution to crack open a tight game against the Dodgers.
After both offenses were mostly muted early, we finally broke through with a four-hit sequence. Lowe started the rally with a single to left, d’Arnaud followed with a single to right, and Peraza delivered the key hit with a single to center that brought Lowe home for the game’s first run. We kept the pressure on from there, continuing to stack baserunners and forcing the Dodgers to work through a messy inning.
That one run was enough to give us the edge in a game that had been dominated by pitching for long stretches.
The Angels’ offense had to grind for everything it got against Shohei Ohtani on the mound. Ohtani piled up strikeouts early, including punchouts of Trout, Neto, d’Arnaud, Lowe, Adell, Candelario, and Soler, but the Angels eventually pieced together enough soft damage to get on the board.
We stretched the lead with another pressure filled inning, once again letting discipline at the plate do the damage. After putting runners on with a bunt single and continued traffic, Jeimer worked a bases loaded walk to bring in a run. Moments later, Trey Mancini followed with a walk of his own, forcing in another and extending the lead without the need for a big swing.
On the mound, we continued to stay in control even as the Dodgers tried to push back. Ryan Johnson worked through the middle innings and navigated the only real threat when Max Muncy doubled but the right-hander limited the damage and kept the shutout intact.
Great defense from Kochanowicz. The Angels maintained control of the game’s tempo, smoothed it off and put this one away for the books.
