Jim Cella
LOS ANGELES—It was MVP Night at Anaheim Stadium in the series opener between the Dodgers and Angels. The game featured five former league Most Valuable Player award winners, but it was the 2014 NL MVP and the reigning NL MVP who stole the show. Clayton Kershaw and Cody Bellinger showed off their award-winning pedigree as they carried the Dodgers to a 7-4 win. Kershaw threw 7.0 innings and only allowed one hit while Bellinger broke out of his power slump by mashing a pair of home runs.
The Dodgers win was their third straight night and they move to 14-7 on the year. The victory, coupled with a Colorado loss against Texas, moves the Dodgers into sole possession of first place in the NL West standings. The 14 wins also ties for the MLB lead with Oakland. The Angels, who dropped their second straight game, fall to 7-13 in 2020.
GAME RECAP: The Dodgers never trailed in the series opener. They broke open a 0-0 tie in the top of the third courtesy of a pair of hits and an Angels’ defensive miscue. Austin Barnes led off with a single and then Mookie Betts got on base due to a misplayed ground ball by Angels’ third baseman Anthony Rendon. Corey Seager grounded into a fielder’s choice which allowed Barnes to move to third and then Justin Turner brought home the first run of the game with an 0-2 single to right off of Angels’ starter Patrick Sandoval. Seager, who moved to third on Turner’s RBI base knock, scored on the next at-bat when AJ Pollock hustled down the first base line to beat the throw on the back end of a double play attempt.
The Angels scored their only run off of Kershaw in the fifth when Rendon got around on a 3-2 hanging curve and deposited the ball in the right field stands. Bellinger added some insurance runs for Kershaw in the sixth when he found the seats down the right field line. Turner also scored on Bellinger’s third HR of the year after starting the inning with a leadoff walk. The Dodgers would tack on a single run in the seventh and then two more in the eighth to increase the lead to six runs at 7-1. Edwín Ríos came across the plate in the seventh when he led off with a double, moved to third on another Barnes single and scored on a Seager’s fielder’s choice ground ball to first. Bellinger continued the offensive momentum in the eighth when he connected on a no-doubter to center. Pollock started the frame with a single and then Bellinger launched a 401-foot Belli Bomb to straight away center.
The Angels would match the 2-run inning in the bottom of the eighth. They would make the final score a 3-run game when they added a single run in the ninth. The Angels had the tying run on-deck with two outs but then Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts called on closer Kenley Jansen to record the final out of the game.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
SERIES STUFF or IT’S ABOUT TIME: The win against the Angels was the first for the Dodgers since the 2018 season. The Dodgers went 0-4 against the Angels last year and were 0-2 at Angel Stadium. The Dodgers haven’t fared well in the all-time series in Anaheim. The Dodgers are now 23-40 at Angel Stadium.
OBSCURE STAT OF THE NIGHT: The Dodgers are now 3-1 in games played on a Friday in 2020.
ROAD WARRIORS: The Dodgers continued their torrid win trend on the road. LA has played 10 games away from Dodger Stadium and is 8-2. That is the best away mark in the NL and second best in all of MLB. If you guessed that the Orioles have the best road record of any MLB team (8-1), you need to get out more.
LEAGUE LEADERS: Bellinger’s two yard shots added to the Dodgers’ MLB lead in HRs. LA has now hit 38 homers in 2020 which averages out to 1.81 HR/GM. Last year the Dodgers were fourth in MLB with a 1.72 homers per game average. LA also leads the majors in runs scored (114) this season and run differential (+54).
INTERLEAGUE ASSASIN: The win for Kershaw was his second of the season and also the 20th of his career victory against AL opponents. He is now 20-5 in interleague play. Kershaw also dropped his ERA against the AL to 2.23 which leads all MLB pitchers in interleague play. Kershaw finished the game by going 7.0 innings and allowing just the one run on the one hit.
KERSHAW KLIMBING: The win was No. 171 for Kershaw. He trails Brickyard Kennedy (177) by six victories for fourth place on the Dodgers all-time list. After his 6-K performance he has 2,482 which is only four shy of Don Drysdale (2,486) for the No.2 spot in the team’s record book. Don Sutton leads all Dodger pitchers with 2,696 strikeouts. It was also Kershaw’s 10th career start where he went at least 5.0 innings and didn’t allow more than one hit.
BELLI BOMBASTIC: The two home runs marked the 12th in his career that Bellinger has gone deep more than once in a game. Unfortunately, he hasn’t achieved Betts status and doesn’t have a 3-HR game in his career. Bellinger finished the game by going 2-for-4 with 4 RBI. It was the first time in nine games that he had a multiple-hit game and the four runs batted are a season high. It is only the second time this year Bellinger has had more than one RBI in a game.
IT’S CALLED DEPTH – WHICH STARTS WITH “D” THAT STANDS FOR DODGERS: The Dodgers’ offense posted their third straight game with at least six runs and have now put up at least six runs in an MLB-best 10 games this year. And how did they get to their 10th game with at least six runs? Not with the help of their Top 2 hitters. Seager and Betts lead the team in batting and went a combined 0-for-9 on Friday. No worries, the No.3, 4 and 5 hitters (Turner, Pollock and Bellinger) were a combined 5-for-11 (.455) with 5 RS and 6 RBI. LA had six of their starting nine in the lineup come away with at least one hit as they outhit the Angels 9-6. It is the 14th time in their 21 games they have had more hits than their opponent.
NINE IS SO FINE: Turner upped his hit streak to nine games on Friday. He went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. The 9-game streak is the longest of the year by any Dodger and, during that stretch, Turner is hitting .355 and has driven in eight runs. Turner upped his season average to .282.
TRENDING UP: Barnes continues to be the hottest Dodger hitter in the past four games. He has hit safely in all four games after he recorded his third multiple-hit game in that stretch. Barnes went 2-for-4 in the opener and is hitting .538 in his last four games. That hot streak moved his season average from an Austin Hedges-like .090 to a respectable .263.
THEY ARE HUMAN: The Dodgers’ Blue Pen entered the game with a consecutive scoreless streak of 20.2 innings and hadn’t allowed a run since last Saturday against the Giants. That streak came to an end in the eighth inning when Pedro Baez allowed a pair of runs to score. The Dodgers’ relief corps saw their season ERA balloon to 1.49 which is still second best in MLB.
ZERO CLUB LOSES A MEMBER: The Blue Pen entered the game having seven different relievers who hadn’t allowed an earned run with at least 5.0 innings pitched. That number dropped by one when Blake Treinen gave up an earned run in the ninth. The LA Zero Club still has more members than any other MLB team. No other squad has more than four relievers with a 0.00 ERA for the year.
ON DECK: The two LA teams will square off in Game 2 of the 3-game series when they play at Angel Stadium on Saturday at 6:40 p.m. The Dodgers will call on Walker Buehler to keep their 3-game win streak going. Buehler doesn’t have a decision this year and owns a 4.40 ERA with a 1.047 WHIP. He is coming off his longest outing of the season when he went 5.2 innings, allowed two earned runs and struck out six vs. the Giants. Buehler has made only one start in his career against the Angels and that came in 2018 at Dodger Stadium. He didn’t get a decision in that game after allowing two earned runs in 5.2 innings. The Angels are scheduled to throw another left-hander. Andrew Heaney, the 7-year veteran, is the probable. He is 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA and 1.211 WHIP in 2020 and has a career 4.43 ERA with a 1.249 WHIP. Heaney’s numbers against the Dodgers are similar. He has started four games vs. the Dodgers and is 1-2 with a 4.56 ERA and a 1.183 WHIP.
