The Los Angeles Dodgers fell behind early, faced a deficit in the late innings and rallied both times but still came up short in a 5-4 extra-innings loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Heading into Sunday, no team has won back-to-back Freeway Series games this season.
After flirting with trouble in the eighth inning, Blake Parker squandered the Angels’ 4-3 lead. Chase Utley led off the bottom of the ninth with a pinch-hit single and promptly scored on Yasmani Grandal’s opposite-field double that carried over Justin Upton’s head.
The Dodgers left the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, which ultimately came back to haunt them. Kole Calhoun ambushed the first pitch he saw from Kenley Jansen for a go-ahead solo home run with two outs in the 10th inning. The home run was Calhoun’s third in the past two games.
Los Angeles had a chance in the bottom of the 10th when Upton lost a fly ball, resulting in a one-out double for Andrew Toles. While Upton’s misplay aided the Dodgers, Toles erred in that he could’ve been at third base.
He wound up there because of a wild pitch but was stranded by Utley and Grandal.
The Dodgers fell behind early as Alex Wood labored through the first two innings, resulting in the Angels taking a 3-0 lead. After a double and infield single put two on with one out in the first, Upton’s RBI base hit drove in the first run of the game.
Wood again faced a situation with two on and one out in the second inning because of a double and infield single, and wound up giving up two runs. David Fletcher’s sacrifice fly scored Kole Calhoun and Upton’s walk with the bases loaded extended the Angels’ lead to 3-0.
Although the Dodgers were in a hole, matters could have been worse. Eight of first 14 Angels batters reached base (three singles, three doubles and two walks), though they also left five on base.
To Wood’s credit, he settled in to retire 10 of 11 batters after issuing the bases-loaded walk. That allowed the Dodgers to steadily chip away against Andrew Heaney before tying it in the fifth inning.
Max Muncy’s leadoff double in the second inning was followed by a Logan Forsythe infield single and Cody Bellinger opposite-field RBI base hit, getting the Dodgers on the board. Wood dropped down a bunt and reached with two outs because Heaney’s throw was wide of first base.
That proved costly as he then hit Chris Taylor with a pitch, brining in a run. Then in the bottom of the fifth, Taylor went to the opposite field for a game-tying leadoff home run. The hit was similar to the charge Taylor put into one that Kole Calhoun made a leaping catch on in the first inning.
Having been perfect through his first 3.2 innings pitched for the Dodgers, Dylan Floro surrendered a go-ahead home run to Upton with two outs in the seventh. Rich Hill made his first relief appearance since September 2014 and threw a shutout inning, and J.T. Chargois followed suit in the ninth.
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