Steve Webb
Game 140, 9/4/2024: Dodgers 1, Angels 10
ANAHEIM, CA — Ooof! Bobby Miller‘s hopes of making the postseason roster took a gigantic step backward on Wednesday night as the young righthander gave up five first-inning runs en route to a 10-1 shellacking at the hands of the Angels. The Dodgers, on the other hand, saw their offense go dormant and had to settle for a split of this two-game series against their Southern California rivals.
After being retired 1-2-3 in the top of the first, the Dodgers took the field in the bottom of the frame with their hopes of a sweep pinned on Bobby Miller, who has been showing signs of his 2023 form of late. Those hopes were dashed almost immediately as a combination of erratic control and tasty fastballs added up to a five run first inning.
First, Miller loaded up the bases on a walk, a hit-by-pitch and a single, setting the table for Anthony Rendon. Noted hater of the “Hollywood Lifestyle,” Rendon nevertheless came through with a two-run single to get the Angels on the board. And the fun was just beginning. On the very next pitch, Mickey Moniak jumped on an inside four-seamer and drove it over the fence in right field to clear the bases. Five hitters in, it was 5-0 Angels. Sub-optimal.
So, like with Justin Wrobleski in Arizona, Miller then had to wear it for the rest of the evening. Truth be told, after those first five hitters, Miller pitched much better, though he did surrender a couple of solo home runs later in the game, to Niko Kavadas and Taylor Ward. His final line for the night on 85 pitches: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. With a start like this, one wonders if Bobby’s knee, which he tweaked a bit in the Baltimore game was bothering him more than he has let on. It’s one more question mark in a rotation that is jammed packed with them going into October.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers could get nothing going against Angels righty Griffin Canning, who kept the Dodgers bats quiet for his first six innings of work. In the seventh, the Dodgers finally got on the board, thanks to a Gavin Lux single, a walk to Tommy Edman, and a run-scoring single from Andy Pages. But it would go no further in that inning as Austin Barnes‘ check swing roller got the Halos out of the inning before Shohei Ohtani could come up to bat and make things very interesting.
In the end it turned out to be a fairly quiet return to Orange County for Shohei. He went 0-for-4 in this one and other than the run-scoring triple in the first game, was kept in check on Tuesday night as well. You wouldn’t exactly call it a slump, but Ohtani is hitting just .232 in his last thirty games. Granted, that’s with 11 home runs and an OPS north of .850, but it’s not the “Amazing Ohtani” we were seeing earlier in the summer. Something to keep an eye on as September rolls on.
The Angels ended up scoring three more runs in the eighth off reliever Michael Peterson, but it hardly mattered. This game was over before most fans’ nachos had cooled down.
After an offday on Thursday, the Dodgers will be back at the Ravine to face off against the division-leading Cleveland Guardians. Which means they better score early because there WON’T be any ninth inning comebacks against Emmanuel Clase. Dodgers’ pitching is still in flux, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we got one more look at Landon Knack this weekend, in addition to Gavin Stone and Jack Flaherty. First pitch on Friday is the usual 7:10 PDT, followed by a 6:10 start on Saturday, and a matinee on Sunday afternoon at 1:10 PDT. See you at the ballpark!
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