Maeda issued a one-out walk in the fourth inning, but also struck out the side. Trayce Thompson cut the Dodgers’ deficit in half by jumping on Shoemaker’s first pitch for a solo home run. Kiké Hernandez pinch-hit for Maeda and kept the inning alive with a two-out single to center.
However, nothing came of it as Shoemaker got Chase Utley to ground out. Maeda’s four innings of work marked the shortest outing of his eight career starts with the Dodgers. Chris Hatcher took over in the fifth and worked around a Trout double and intentional walk to Pujols to toss a scoreless inning of relief.
Kendrick hit a one-out single in the fifth, only to be stranded by Gonzalez and Grandal. Kendrick moved to first base as Gonzalez was removed due to lower back tightness; Justin Turner took over at third.
Hatcher worked around a Johnny Giavotella leadoff double in the sixth to keep the Dodgers within one run of the Angels. Escobar and Calhoun hit back-to-back singles off Pedro Baez with no outs in the seventh, and Trout drew a walk to load the bases.
Pujols extended the Angels’ lead with a two-run single. Giavotella’s sacrifice fly pushed Anaheim ahead, 7-3, before Baez managed to get out of the inning. Charlie Culberson pinch-hit for Baez in the bottom of the seventh and drew a leadoff walk.
He then went first to third base on Seager’s base hit to right field. Cam Bedrosian replaced Jose Alvarez and traded an out for a run on Kendrick’s sacrifice fly. Turner kept the inning alive with a walk, but Grandal, representing the tying run, struck out on a pitch in the dirt.
Thompson connected for his second home run of the game, with his two-run shot cutting the Angels’ lead to 7-6. Yasiel Puig pinch-hit for Louis Coleman and fouled out. Utley knocked a two-out single to center, but was stranded as Seager grounded out.
The Dodgers didn’t get any further as Fernando Salas converted the save opportunity to get the Angels a win in the Freeway Series opener.
