The Los Angeles Dodgers and crosstown rival Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim met Friday afternoon in the second of three Spring Training meetings. Zach Lee and Nick Tropeano both made their second Cactus-League starts of the year, with each producing nearly identical results in their first outings.
The scoring for the afternoon started in the top of the first inning, as Lee began the game shaky. After a Cliff Pennington leadoff double, Lee collected two consecutive outs. However, he did not escape the inning as Ji-Man Choi singled, followed by a Geovany Soto three-run home run.
The Dodgers responded in the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back singles by Joc Pederson and Corey Seager. Yasiel Puig followed with a double play ball, scoring Pederson from third to give the Dodgers their first run of the game.
Austin Barnes received the start with his 2015 Triple-A batterymate Lee. While leading off the second inning against Tropeano, Barnes crushed a full-count pitch into the left field seats to cut the Angels’ lead to 3-2.
After a Rob Segedin walk, Shawn Zarraga blooped a ground-rule double. Corey Brown followed with a sacrifice fly, tying the game at 3-3. Lee issued a leadoff walk in the third, but bounced back by getting Rafael Ortega to ground into a double play, and C.J. Cron to fly out.
The Dodgers recorded two quick outs in the bottom of the third inning, leaving Adrian Gonzalez at the plate with no runners on. On a 2-0 pitch, Gonzalez crushed an opposite field home run to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.
Lee’s outing ended after three frames. He allowed three runs on three hits and had two strikeouts. Corey Seager was also removed after three innings due to feeling tightness in his leg.
Kenley Jansen replaced Lee and opened the fourth inning with a walk. Choi then stole second base with one out, where he was stranded.
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