by Megan Garcia
The Dodgers adopted the mindset of starting anew for the remaining six weeks of the season. However, the same result ended up happening in Anaheim on Wednesday.
The Dodgers were swept by the Angels with a 6–5 loss in the series finale. This is the first time the Dodgers have been swept in the season Freeway Series. They went 0–6 against the Angels this season.
The Dodgers are now in second place in the National League West. They trail the Padres by one game.
“We’re constantly giving ourselves chances to win. Right now, that’s what we can ask for,” Mookie Betts said. “Obviously, we would love to win all these games, but it just wasn’t in the cards. We just got to turn the page and get ready for San Diego.”
The Dodgers led 5–4 in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe drove in two runs with a single against Edgardo Henriquez for the Angels to take the lead.
The Dodgers led 3–0 in the first inning and were up 5–2 in the fifth inning.
Betts’ RBI single and Will Smith’s two-run homer against Angels starter Kyle Hendricks in the first inning gave starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani a lead before he stepped on the mound.
https://medium.com/media/46bc01c6fd7492955549d92d71dfa866/href
Betts and Smith each drove in a run in the fourth, as well.
Andy Pages was robbed of a two-run home run in the seventh inning.
“This was tough, obviously because of the result, but tonight I liked the way we played. I thought the at-bats were really good,” said manager Dave Roberts. “We get robbed on a great play from the Pages’ ball over the wall. I thought across the board we did a great job competing.”
Wednesday marked Ohtani’s pitching return to Angel Stadium, where he last pitched on Aug. 23, 2023. He exited that game in the second inning for the Angels with a right elbow injury.
Nearly two years later, Ohtani had his longest start of the 2025 season.
Ohtani was two outs short of completing five innings. He threw a season-high 80 pitches while his 14 swings and misses matched a season-best. Ohtani’s sweeper accounted for three of his six strikeouts.
One of them caught Mike Trout looking, his former teammate and the final batter he faced in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, in the first. In the fourth, Ohtani blew a 101-mph fastball past Trout for a second strikeout.
https://medium.com/media/d0f7cb26f9083da5086cf62c0d7f8b0c/href
The Angels scored four runs against Ohtani with a Taylor Ward homer and a Luis Rengifo sacrifice fly in the second. Zach Neto’s two-run double in the fifth knocked Ohtani out of the game.
“I just couldn’t finish off hitters in the fifth. They did a good job of putting balls in play, and that’s what happens,” Ohtani said. “Next time, I just have to do a better job.”
https://medium.com/media/9fe0d3cb502d28623c60ce40bff4f79e/href
But the Dodgers still led 5–4. It wouldn’t last.
The Dodgers have lost four straight games. They led late in three of the games.
This is the first time the Dodgers have been out of first place since April 27.
The Dodgers (68–53) host the first-place Padres at Dodger Stadium for three games beginning on Friday.
“You can’t feel sorry for yourself and that’s not what I expect from our guys,” Roberts said. “(The Padres) are playing great baseball. It’s going to be crazy at Chavez Ravine and our guys will be ready.”
The Dodgers are out of first place for the first time since April was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.