It was steaming hot at Angel Stadium on Friday night for the first game of the annual Freeway Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
The temperature at game time was a blistering 108 degrees, which broke the Angel Stadium record, which previously was 106 degrees, set during a September day game in 1988 and a September night game in 2007.
Usually, a game that hot favors the hitters as the ball typically travels farther in the heat, but that was not the case on Friday night. Runs were at a premium, and ultimately it was the Angels that came away with a 3-2 walk-off victory to shock the Dodgers.
The Dodgers led for much of the game and carried a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning, where they gave the ball to All-Star closer Kenley Jansen.
Jansen got two quick outs and was one strike away from a victory before issuing a walk to Shohei Ohtani. The Dodgers defense was atrocious from there as Ohtani stole second and took third when Yasmani Grandal’s throw went into center field.
He scored a pitch later on a single by David Fletcher, who ended up scoring the winning run on a single to right by Ian Kinsler. Yasiel Puig bobbled the ball in right and then his throw got passed Grandal at home.
Jansen forgot to back him up, so the ball went into no-mans-land, allowing the winning run to come home.
Temperatures are expected to cool down a little bit for the rest of the series, with Saturday’s high expected to be 100 degrees and then Sunday’s dropping to 94.
As part of our efforts to help you understand how we handle the personal information you share with us, and in preparation for the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we’ve updated our Privacy & Cookies Policy. The updated Privacy & Cookies Policy will take effect on May 22, 2018. By using our services on or after that date, you’ll be agreeing to our updated Privacy & Cookies Policy. We recommend that you read our updated Privacy & Cookies Policy in full.
