Julio Urias allowed five runs in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ loss to the L.A. Angels in the first of two exhibition Freeway Series games at Dodger Stadium as they went on to lose 10-4.
While the notable moments for the Dodgers were few and far between, Freddie Freeman took his first home at-bat at Chavez Ravine, walking up to the plate with loud cheer from fans. Those cheers grew even louder as Freeman tripled on a fly ball to left field hit at 82 mph, which dropped and rolled to the wall.
After a walk from Trea Turner, the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly from Justin Turner to drive in Freeman.
Making his final tuneup start before the regular season, Urias issued two walks in the first inning. However, he was able to avoid allowing any runs to cross by getting Matt Duffy to ground into a double play and striking out Taylor Ward.
Urias also escaped the second inning without trouble after allowing a two-out double.
The Angels then tied the game in the third inning on a solo home run from Brandon Marsh, one of their top prospects who is looking to establish himself as an everyday player this season. They followed that with a walk, back-to-back singles and a double to go up 3-1.
The lead was increased to 4-1 on a broken-bat single and Urias was pulled from the game with runners on second and third.
Yency Almonte relieved Urias and promptly allowed an RBI single, increasing the Angels’ lead to 5-1. Almonte then struck out the next three to strand the runners at the corners.
The Dodgers loaded the bases in the bottom of the third after a double from Hanser Alberto, a single from Mookie Betts and a walk from Freeman. Trea Turner then doubled down the left-field line to drive in two, cutting the Angels’ lead to 5-3, which was followed by a groundout from Justin Turner to drive in another run.
The Angels added another run in the fifth inning on an RBI single against Tony Gonsolin, making the score 6-4. The Dodgers looked close to rallying in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of one out singles and a two-out hit-by-pitch, but they failed to score.
In the sixth, the Angels tacked on two more runs on a home run from Jose Rojas, making the score 8-4. By that point, most of the Dodgers starters were out of the game and they were unable to comeback from the four-run deficit.
Garrett Cleavinger, who is vying for the final spot in the Dodgers’ Opening Day bullpen, allowed two runs in the eighth inning.
Urias unconcerned by poor start
While there normally wouldn’t be much concern over a poor Spring Training start, Urias’ fastball velocity was down by an average of 2.5 mph and he only recorded four swings and misses. He finished his night allowing five runs in two-plus innings while giving up six hits, walking three and striking out one.
“I’m physically and mentally strong,” Urias said about his drop in velocity. “Just getting ready for the season.”
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