On June 28, 2008, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Los Angeles Angels at Dodger Stadium despite not collecting a hit against Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo. Matt Kemp scored the only run in the Dodgers’ 1-0 victory.
The Dodgers became only the fifth team in the Modern Era (since 1900) to win a game without getting a hit. Prior to the Dodgers, the last team to accomplish the feat was the Cleveland Indians, when they were no-hit by Matt Young of the Boston Red Sox for eight innings but still managed to squeak out a 2-1 win on April 12, 1992.
Weaver led the Angels’ no-hitter by getting through six innings with only three walks allowed. Arredondo turned in two perfect innings. The Angels were not officially credited with a combined no-hitter because the Dodgers did not bat in the bottom of the ninth.
To that point it was a fourth time in MLB history a visiting team was not awarded a no-hitter despite holding an opponent hitless over eight innings.
Weaver walked Andre Ethier in the first inning and put Russell Martin on in the fourth. But it was his inability to field a roller hit in front of the mound that did him in. Weaver’s error allowed Kemp to reach safely, and Jeff Mathis’ errant throw on a stolen base attempt put the Dodgers outfielder at third base.
Blake DeWitt’s sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers their decided 1-0 lead. The Angels managed five hits of their own and saw four runners reach scoring position.
Aided by Ethier throwing out Erick Aybar on his attempt to turn a single into a double, and his catch on Howie Kendrick’s line drive hit to right-center field, Chad Billingsley got through seven scoreless innings.
Billingsley was followed by Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito. It was the second game in a row the Angels failed to score.
The Dodgers dropped the third game at Dodger Stadium, and settled for a split of the six head-to-head meetings in that season’s Freeway Series.
Dodgers Freeway Series history
With their back-to-back shutout wins during the Freeway Series in June 2023, the Dodgers improved to 8-0 over their last eight games against the Angels, which tied for their longest winning streak in Freeway Series history.
The Dodgers previously won eight in a row in their head-to-head matchups from Aug. 5, 2014-Sept. 8, 2015.
Furthermore, those victories in Anaheim gave the Dodgers a 14th consecutive season in which they registered back-to-back shutouts. That tied with the New York Yankees (1951-1964) for the longest such streak in MLB history.
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