Dodgers end any chances for Angels
The Angels had the lifeline they needed.
Not only were they leading the Dodgers by two in the f ifth inning of a must- win game at Dodger Stadium on Friday night, but roughly 1,500 miles away, the Houston Astros had blown a late lead against the Texas Rangers.
After coming within one strike of clinching the AL West’s second playoff spot for themselves — and eliminating the Angels in the process — the Astros gave up a tying home run in the ninth and squandered another one- run lead in the 10th to lose in extra innings.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, the Angels had taken Clayton Kershaw deep twice. Starter Andrew Heaney had survived his f irst two times through the Dodgers’ order with a lead intact. And for a moment, it seemed the team’s faint playoff dreams would last another night.
Three at- bats, however, changed the game. Justin Turner hit a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the f ifth. Max Muncy lined a single in the next at- bat to chase Heaney from the game. Then Will Smith dealt the fatal blow, blasting a go- ahead two- run homer off reliever Matt Andriese.
It was a gut punch from which the Angels couldn’t recover. With an eventual 9- 5 loss to the Dodgers, their postseason chances were officially dashed.
Having spent the previous two nights isolated from the public in a hotel on the coast, just in case they managed to gain entry to a playoff race they seemed destined to lose, the Angels still had four innings Friday to mount a comeback after Smith’s home run.
But the kind of resilience that had kept their season alive during a 14- 6 stretch entering Friday had run out. They went down in order in the sixth, stranded leadoff singles in the seventh and eighth, and hardly challenged Kenley Jansen in the ninth.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, doubled their lead on Joc Pederson’s RBI single in the seventh, then did it again courtesy of Edwin Ríos’ two- run homer off Mike Mayers in the eighth.
The game was momentarily delayed in the top of that inning when alarms and f lashing lights erupted around the ballpark, sending security officers running through to turn them off.
The Angels had far less luck preventing a buzzer from sounding on their own season. After getting the help they needed, they couldn’t help themselves. For a sixth consecutive season, there will be only one playoff baseball team in the Southland.
Working on a deal
The Anaheim City Council will consider a potential “Angels commitment agreement” with the team Tuesday. Under the agreement, which was released late Thursday, the Angels would commit to play in Anaheim through at least 2050 or risk owing the city as much as $ 300 million if they leave.
Short hops
Tony Gonsolin will start Saturday for the Dodgers, and Dustin May will throw bulk innings out of the bullpen Sunday. … Manager Dave Roberts said the Dodgers probably will include only 12 or 13 pitchers in their 28- man roster for the best- of- three wild card series.