The Los Angeles Dodgers reached the end of their exhibition schedule on Saturday night as they played the finale of the Freeway Series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Los Angeles entered having dropped the previous two meetings at Dodger Stadium.
Nick Tropeano retired the first two batters faced before issuing a walk to Justin Turner. Adrian Gonzalez extended the inning with an soft tapper toward third base, however both runners were stranded as Yasiel Puig flied out.
Alex Wood gave up a one-out single to Craig Gentry, who was then caught stealing. Mike Trout drew a walk and then went first to third base on an Albert Pujols single to left field. The game remained scoreless through the first inning as C.J. Cron grounded out.
After walking Joc Pederson with one out in the second, Tropeano retired Scott Van Slyke and Austin Barnes. The Angels loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the second behind a pair of singles and a hit by pitch. Wood got out of trouble by inducing a 4-6-3 double play.
Turner and Gonzalez combined for back-to-back hits with two outs in the third, but they again were left on base by Puig, who this time struck out swinging. Trout doubled down the left field line with one out in the bottom of the fourth. He later scored on Cron’s booming RBI double to straightaway center.
Corey Seager led off the fourth with a hustle double to left-center field, just beating Trout’s throw to second base. Pederson’s blooper to shallow left field dropped between Andrelton Simmons and Gentry, giving the Dodgers runners on the corners with none out.
Tropeano got Van Slyke to ground into a double play, though Seager scored to tie the game at 1-1. With two runners on already on, Wood walked Gentry to load the bases with two outs. It marked the end of Wood’s night as he was replaced by Zach Lee.
CONTINUE READING: First batter Zach Lee faces is Mike Trout
Trout greeted Lee with a bases-clearing double to give the Angels a 4-1 lead. Pujols struck out swinging to end the inning. Greg Mahle came on in relief of Tropeano in the fifth and retired Carl Crawford, Chase Utley and Turner in order.
Lee remained in the game in the bottom of the fifth, and worked around a one-out walk and base hit to keep the Angels lead at 4-1. Kiké Hernandez hit a two-out double off Tyler Skaggs, but was stranded as Pederson struck out swinging.
Cliff Pennington led off the bottom of the sixth with a base hit to center. Lee quickly settled back in to get back-to-back strikeouts of Daniel Nava and Gentry. Jeff Bandy kept the inning alive with a base hit that put runners on the corners. Pujols added to Lee’s troubles with a three-run homer that pushed the Angels’ lead to 7-1.
Both Skaggs and Lee retired the side in order in the seventh inning. Skaggs remained in the game for the eighth, and again tossed a 1-2-3 inning. Jacob Rhame replaced Lee in the bottom of the eighth and gave up a two-out solo home run to Ji-Man Choi.
Fernando Salas gave up a leadoff single Yusniel Diaz the ninth inning before wrapping up the Angels’ 8-1 win, which gave Anaheim a three-game sweep of the Dodgers.