Dodgers find their inner sluggers
They roll another big number (13 runs in two innings), but bullpen gives up a bunch too.
Some were hit hard, firm line drives and loud fly balls scattered around the park.
Some rolled along the ground, weak contact that kept finding the right spots.
Once they started, they didn’t stop. Batter after batter. Hit after hit. Run scored after run scored.
During the Dodgers’ 13run explosion between the fourth and fifth innings Saturday night at Angel Stadium, which proved to be critical in a wacky 14-11 win over the Angels, the lineup didn’t hit a home run and had only two extra-base hits.
Instead, a team that in recent weeks had struggled to string together hits, failed to manufacture runs and sputtered at the plate suddenly snapped back to life.
Eight runs, eight hits and three walks in the fourth. Five runs, four hits and three walks in the fifth.
On a night they were in danger of losing a fifth consecutive series, the Dodgers finally started to look like their old selves again.
Another problem that marked their recent 4-14 skid — a combustible bullpen — reared its ugly head again, nearly blowing the big lead after Clayton Kershaw’s five scoreless innings.
The Angels went on a run of their own, tallying all 11 runs between the sixth and seventh innings — the latter rally aided by a two-out error by catcher Austin Barnes after he was shifted to second base.
But it wouldn’t be enough. The Dodgers had done too much damage.
“That’s why you have to
get 27 outs,” Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts said. “It’s tough. They did a great job of battling back. You don’t want that to happen, but I think beggars can’t be choosers right now, and we’ll take anything we can get.”
Initially, there weren’t any signs of the impending outburst, with Dodgers getting only one baserunner in the first three innings.
But then their lineup turned over to begin the fourth. Betts led off with a walk. Corey Seager laced a single into center. After Justin Turner struck out, Max Muncy lined a single to right to score the first run. More soon followed.
After a brief pause during the next at-bat — the result of Angels third baseman Jose Rojas inadvertently tagging Betts below the belt after fielding a ball — Will Smith kept the line moving with an RBI single. Then Chris Taylor singled to load the bases. Then Matt Beaty hammered a double to right to make it 4-0.
That marked the end of Angels starter Dylan Bundy’s day, and reliever
Steve Cishek could not escape the inning either.
After Gavin Lux was intentionally walked to juice the bags again, the next three Dodgers all hit soft ground balls: Barnes a roller to second, Betts a tapper the other way, and Seager a swinging bunt up the third base line. Each resulted in a single, leading to four more runs in an inning in which 14 batters came to the plate.
The fifth inning unfolded similarly. Taylor and Beaty drew leadoff walks against Félix Peña, advanced to second and third on a grounder from Barnes, then watched their teammates catch fire with two outs: Betts singled them both home; Turner, who recorded an out in both of his fourth-inning plate appearances, plated another run with a hustle double to left; and Smith lifted a soft flare to right to drive in a couple more.
Both teams seemed to concede the result. The Angels removed Mike Trout and Justin Upton. The Dodgers pulled Betts, Seager and Turner. And Kershaw was removed despite throwing only 71 pitches.
That’s when the game got interesting.
In the sixth, the Angels scored four runs to make it 13-4. After the Dodgers scored again in the seventh — as Angels manager Joe Maddon was ejected — the Angels made two quick outs in the bottom of the inning.
But then Shohei Ohtani hit a grounder at Barnes, who had moved to second to accommodate fellow catcher Keibert Ruiz. For most infielders, it would have been a manageable play. But Barnes’ stab with the glove came up empty, extending an inning that quickly went off the rails.
The next five Angels strung together hits against reliever Mitch White, leading to four runs. With two outs, Garrett Cleavinger was summoned from the bullpen, but gave up a threerun home to Rojas — the first of his career — to make it a three-run game.
“You can feel momentum even through a television screen,” said Maddon, watching at that point from the clubhouse. “They showed a young lady in the right-field stands. I said ‘hit it to her.’ He almost did.”
The Angels got no closer,, going down in order in the eighth and ninth innings against Victor González and Blake Treinen.
“Obviously, it’s not what we wanted to have happen,” Kershaw said. “But at the end of the day we can look back and get a win, and feel good about it.”
Injury updates
Angels left-hander Tony Watson is “really close” to returning, according to Maddon, possibly as soon as Sunday … Angels starting pitcher Alex Cobb was placed on the injured list, retroactive to May 5, with a blister on his middle finger.
AJ Pollock wasn’t in the Dodgers’ lineup Saturday because of a mild left-hamstring strain. To add outfield coverage, the team recalled DJ Peters and optioned right-hander Edwin Uceta.