The Los Angeles Dodgers hit four of six solo home runs on the night to defeat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 4-3, in front of a sold-out crowd at Camelback Ranch. The night game was the Dodgers’ last of the year at their Spring Training facility.
After a rough showing against the Chicago White Sox, Hyun-Jin Ryu bounced back with his best performance in three Cactus League starts. He retired the first four batters faced, and when that streak was snapped, worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning.
Flare singles by Mike Trout and Justin Upton put two on with one out in the third, but Ryu retired Albert Pujols and struck out Zack Cozart to end the threat. Luis Valbuena’s two-out solo home run in the fourth inning was the Angels’ only damage off Ryu.
He went five innings, limited Anaheim to the one run on five hits, and had six strikeouts against one walk. When Ryu got Trout swinging in the first inning, he became the first pitcher this spring to strike out the perennial American League MVP candidate.
Puig was both responsible for giving the Dodgers an early lead and beginning the home run barrage. Jaime Barria hung a slider over the plate that Puig crushed over the berm in left field to break up a scoreless tie in the second.
One inning later, Kiké Hernandez added to his case for playing time against right-handed pitchers by clubbing a solo home run over the Dodgers’ bullpen in left field. Corey Seager joined the action in the fifth, with his solo blast to right field extending the lead to 3-1.
Cozart’s home run off Pedro Baez in the top of the sixth cut the Angels’ deficit to one, but it was offset when Cody Bellinger drove a solo homer to the batter’s eye in the bottom half of the inning.
The game’s only run that didn’t come across via the longball was in the seventh inning when Michael Hermosillo doubled off Scott Alexnader, stole third base, and scored on Trout’s base hit.
After Alexander stranded a pinch-runner, J.T. Chargois tossed a scoreless eighth and Josh Fields followed suit in the ninth inning to earn a save.
