Dodgers sweep the Angels, 2-0
Ninth inning
Dodgers: Left-hander Aaron Loup now pitching for the Angels. Miguel Rojas, batting for Jason Heyward, struck out swinging. Miguel Vargas homered to right-center. Chris Taylor, batting for James Outman, walked. Jonny DeLuca ran for Taylor. Michael Busch lined to the pitcher, who doubled DeLuca off first.
Angels: Evan Phillips now pitching for the Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani flied to center. Mike Trout struck out swinging. Brandon Drury flied to right.
Final score: Dodgers 2, Angels 0
We go to the ninth, 1-0 Dodgers
Eighth inning
Dodgers: Right-hander Jacob Webb now pitching for the Angels. Freddie Freeman lined to first. Will Smith flied to right. David Peralta walked. J.D. Martinez lined to center.
Angels: Caleb Ferguson now pitching for the Dodgers. Luis Rengifo popped to first. Michael Stefanic, batting for Andrew Velazquez, walked. Hunter Renfroe grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.
Score after eight: Dodgers 1, Angels 0
Dodgers maintain 1-0 lead through seven
Seventh inning
Dodgers: James Outman flied to center. Michael Busch struck out swinging. Mookie Betts flied to left.
Through seven innings, Shohei Ohtani has given up one run and five hits while walking two and striking out 12. He has thrown 101 pitches.
Angels: Taylor Ward popped to second. Jared Walsh popped to short. Matt Thaiss, batting for Chad Wallach, grounded to second.
Score after seven: Dodgers 1, Angels 0
Nothing doing in the sixth, Dodgers still lead
Sixth inning
Dodgers: Will Smith walked. David Peralta struck out looking. J.D. Martinez struck out swinging. Jason Heyward singled to right, Smith to second. Miguel Vargas struck out swinging.
Angels: Shohei Ohtani popped to third. Mike Trout struck out swinging. Newest Dodger Ryan Brasier now pitching for the Dodgers. Brandon Drury struck out swinging.
Score after six: Dodgers 1, Angels 0
It’s 1-0 Dodgers after five
Fifth inning
Dodgers: James Outman grounded to first. Michael Busch grounded to short. Mookie Betts singled to right. Freddie Freeman grounded to the pitcher.
Angels: Jared Walsh struck out swinging. Chad Wallach grounded to short. Luis Rengifo singled to center. Alex Vesia is now pitching for the Dodgers. Andrew Velazquez walked. Hunter Renfroe, batting for Moniak, flied to center.
Score after five: Dodgers 1, Angels 0
Dodgers take 1-0 lead on Freeman’s homer
Fourth inning
Dodgers: Freddie Freeman homered to center. Will Smith struck out swinging. David Peralta grounded to the pitcher. J.D. Martinez doubled to left. Jason Heyward walked. Miguel Vargas struck out swinging.
Angels: Shohei Ohtani lined to left. Yency Almonte now pitching for the Dodgers. Mike Trout walked. Brandon Drury flied to left. Taylor Ward struck out swinging.
Score after four: Dodgers 1, Angels 0
Dodgers 0, Angels 0 after three
Third inning
Dodgers: James Outman struck out swinging. Michael Busch struck out swinging. Mookie Betts flied to right.
Angels: Victor Gonzalez is now pitching in this Dodger bullpen game. Luis Rengifo doubled to left. Andrew Velazquez grounded to first, Rengifo to third. Mickey Moniak lined to left. David Peralta threw home and Will Smith made a nice play to catch and apply the tag to Regifo, who was out trying to score.
Score after three: Dodgers 0, Angels 0
Scoreless after two innings
Second inning
Dodgers: David Peralta grounded to first. J.D. Martinez struck out swinging. Jason Heyward beat out a slow bouncer to second. Miguel Vargas struck out swinging.
Angels: Taylor Ward struck out swinging. Jared Walsh struck out swinging. Chad Wallach grounded to short.
Score after two: Dodgers 0, Angels 0
No score after one inning
First inning
Dodgers: Mookie Betts flied to center. Freddie Freeman struck out swinging. Will Smith struck out swinging.
Angels: Mickey Moniak struck out swinging. Shohei Ohtani walked. Mike Trout grounded to third, forcing Ohtani. Brandon Drury grounded to short, forcing Trout.
Score after one: Dodgers 0, Angels 0
Dodgers to face Shohei Ohtani as pitcher for first time. “It’s like going back to Little League”
The Dodgers will get their first up-close look at Shohei Ohtani the pitcher when the Angels two-way star makes his first mound start against them in Angel Stadium on Wednesday night.
“It’s gonna be tough,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “You know, it’s an elite fastball, it’s strike-throwing, it’s big stuff, it’s a splitter in there, a breaking ball. I’m actually looking forward to seeing him on the mound and then hitting high up in the order. It’s like going back to Little League, so I’m very anxious to see it as a fan.”
Ohtani, whose deep repertoire includes a four-seam fastball that averages 97.2 mph and a big-breaking sweeper, is 6-2 with a 3.29 ERA in 14 starts this season but has not been as dominant in nine starts since April 27, going 3-2 with a 4.67 ERA and giving up 11 home runs.
“Yeah, looking forward to it,” said Freddie Freeman, who has never faced Ohtani. “It’s gonna be a good matchup. He’s one of the best pitchers in the game. These are the things you always want as competitors, to face the best, so if we want to get a win tonight, we’ve got to beat him.”
Though Ohtani throws six pitches, he has leaned a little more on the sweeper and less on his split-fingered fastball this season, using the sweeper 39% of the time and the splitter 7% of the time. The right-hander threw his sweeper 37% of the time and his splitter 12% of the time last season.
“He’s not throwing as many pitches as he threw before,” Freeman said. “His last start he threw his fastball, cutter, slider and an occasional curveball, and he didn’t even throw a split-finger to one left-hander, and there were seven of them in the lineup.
“So I think he’s kind of reducing the number of pitches he’s throwing to people. We just have to try to get something out over the plate and put a good swing on it.”
Dodgers to use bullpen game vs. Angels; neck issue to sideline Shelby Miller for a month
The Dodgers recalled Michael Grove from triple-A Oklahoma City but not to start or serve as the “bulk guy” for Wednesday night’s game against the Angels in Anaheim. Reliever Brusdar Graterol will serve as an “opener,” and the Dodgers will likely treat the final eight innings or so as a bullpen game.
“I think given the off days [Monday and Thursday], the state of our pen currently, it’s essentially having seven other options at our disposal,” manager Dave Roberts said. “So for me, it’s kind of, let the game play out.
“Brusdar will take the first inning and maybe part of the second inning, and then we’ll kind of go from there. Michael is certainly available. Whether he takes the bulk will depend on the game situation.”
To clear a roster spot for Grove, reliever Shelby Miller, who is 1-0 with a 2.40 ERA in 25 games, was puy on the 15-day injured list because of neck pain, an issue that Roberts said will sideline the veteran right-hander for three to four weeks.
“It’s something I think he’s dealt with [in the past], and I don’t think anyone appreciated the extent of it,” Roberts said. “I’m just amazed at how he still could perform with that.”
Clayton Kershaw, once dogged by injuries, has become the most dependable Dodger
Before he walked out of the locker room in a pair of once-white sneakers colored by his two oldest children, Clayton Kershaw imagined how he would feel when he woke up on Wednesday morning.
“I mean, I don’t feel like pitching tomorrow, for sure,” Kershaw said with a smile.
Kershaw is now 35 years old. He doesn’t recover the way he did when he broke into the major leagues, which, as Freddie Freeman pointed out, was a long time ago.
“He’s been doing that for the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2008,” Freeman said.
That.
That was seven shutout innings in a 2-0 road win over the Angels on Tuesday night.
Tuesday recap: Clayton Kershaw is a stopper again as Dodgers blank Angels
This season has been one long farewell to arms for the Dodgers, who lost Tony Gonsolin to a left ankle sprain and Ryan Pepiot to a left oblique strain in March, Dustin May to a serious forearm injury and Julio Urías to a left hamstring strain in mid-May, and Noah Syndergaard and his unsightly 7.16 ERA to a blister in early June.
The one constant in this cluster of calamities, the only pitcher to not miss a start through a haze of injuries and ineffectiveness, is the 35-year-old left-hander with a balky lower back and an elbow that gave out on him in 2021, causing him to miss three months of that season.
Clayton Kershaw took the Angel Stadium mound Tuesday night with the Dodgers reeling from a lopsided three-game weekend sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants, and the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner did what he has done so often, twirling a gem when his team needed it most.
Dodgers TV schedule for remainder of regular season
Here’s a look at the Dodgers TV schedule for the remainder of the 2023 regular season. All times and broadcast/streaming options are subject to change.
