OC Register: Angels pile on struggling Dodgers, end their own 5-game slide

[AngelsWin.com]

ANAHEIM — Desperately searching for the missing ingredient that will turn around their extended skid, the Dodgers tried to borrow a cup of sugar from their neighbor only to have the door slammed in their faces.

Justin Upton and Taylor Ward hit home runs in a four-run second inning and the Angels piled on the struggling Dodgers, handing them a 9-2 defeat in the first game of this year’s Freeway Series at Angel Stadium.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Angels. While this was a week of change for the Angels who cut ties with future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols on Thursday – then played a tribute video on the scoreboard during the second inning Friday night – nothing has changed for the Dodgers. Their offense continues to struggle and they lost another player to an apparent injury.

The Dodgers were 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position after going 2 for 25 during a three-game sweep by the Cubs in Chicago.

The loss was the Dodgers’ fourth in a row, seventh in their past eight, 10th in their past 12 and 14th in their past 18 as their trail of underperforming grows longer by the day. After starting the season 13-2, the Dodgers are now just one game above .500 (17-16).

Whatever issues had been plaguing the Dodgers, pitcher Julio Urias wasn’t one of them. But he gave up as many earned runs in the second inning as he had in any of his previous 21 regular-season starts, stretching to April 2019.

It started with a solo home run by Upton, ending an eight-pitch at-bat – that might have ended sooner if Urias had gotten a call on a 2-and-2 curveball that was deemed too high by home plate umpire Adrian Johnson.

Things escalated when four Angels reached base after there were two outs in the inning. Ward hit his homer. Urias hit Jose Rojas with a pitch. Drew Butera – freshly purchased for cash considerations from the Texas Rangers – doubled Rojas to third then both scored on a single by David Fletcher.

That was more than enough against a Dodgers team that has hit .204 over their past 19 games, averaging 3.7 runs per game.

As has been the case most nights during this extended slump, the Dodgers had their opportunities to score – and made the least of them with Angels starter Griffin Canning and reliever Patrick Sandoval stranding 10 runners in the first eight innings.

An A.J. Pollock double with one out in the second put runners at second and third. One run scored on a ground out but that was it.

A Mookie Betts double in the fifth created the same situation. Corey Seager and Justin Turner each bounced into ground outs on the first pitch they saw.

A gift double on a pop-up to shallow right field, an infield single and a passed ball set up another second-and-third, one-out situation in the sixth. Pollock took a called third strike and Sheldon Neuse flew out to end the inning.

Things actually managed to get worse for the Dodgers in the bottom of the sixth.

Joe Kelly made his first appearance of the season and retired just two of the seven batters he faced, allowing four runs. One of those runs scored on a triple by Mike Trout – a sinking liner that Pollock failed to smother and then limped after. Pollock left the game with an apparent hamstring injury.

More to come on this story.

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[Pancake Bear]

1 hour ago, AngelsWin.com said:

Desperately searching for the missing ingredient that will turn around their extended skid, the Dodgers tried to borrow a cup of sugar from their neighbor only to have the door slammed in their faces.

lol

[WicketMaiden]

It's a bit of a rollercoaster this baseball malarky isn't it? 

I started watching the game more out of loyalty and habit than expectation and boy was I glad I did. Fun, fun game. Always great to hand the Dodgers a hefty defeat and Canning looked a different guy, much more mentally strong and dealt with baserunners and a dodgy strike zone with great maturity.  Great stuff. It's fun to be an Angel fan again!

[T.G.]

F the Dodgers

[Taylor]

DodgersWin is on suicide watch.

[Angel Oracle]

For an org that prides itself on pitching, that 1.50 WHIP for the Dogs pen is a shocker.   Wonder how many inherited runners they have allowed to score.

Edited May 8, 2021 by Angel Oracle

[jsnpritchett]

1 minute ago, Angel Oracle said:

For an org that prides itself on pitching, that 1.50 WHIP for the Dogs pen is a shocker.   Wonder how many inherited runners they have allowed to score.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/2021-reliever-pitching.shtml

Looks like only 27%, good for 4th-best in the NL so far. 

But they've also blown more saves than any other team and they're tied for the most save situations overall-so I'm assuming that they've had a lot of really terrible relief outings from guys who've started an inning with a lead, as opposed to allowing inherited runners to score.

[ten ocho recon scout]

We'll probably lose the next 2, because its us. But Im glad when both teams limped into one another, the dodgers were our fat girl thats lonely instead of the other way around.

 

[JustATroutFan]

10 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

We'll probably lose the next 2, because its us. But Im glad when both teams limped into one another, the dodgers were our fat girl thats lonely instead of the other way around.

 

Nah, Angels are probably going to win this series even though they were not supposed to and give Angels fans a lot of hope. I'll stop right there. But I would love to see Kershaw go into postseason form tonight. I just love seeing Kershaw come up small in the postseason every single season. 

[Lou]

2 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

We'll probably lose the next 2, because its us. But Im glad when both teams limped into one another, the dodgers were our fat girl thats lonely instead of the other way around.

 

@failos has a boner now 

[failos]

34 minutes ago, Lou said:

@failos has a boner now