Steve Webb
Freeway Series Game 3, 3/26/2024: Dodgers 3, Angels 4
ANAHEIM, CA — Bring on the regular season. The Dodgers ended their tuneup for the 2024 campaign with their second straight loss to the “Los Angeles” Angels. This time, after falling behind early, the Dodgers were able to climb back into a tie thanks to three solo home runs, but then gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth when prospect John Rooney got dinged for a two-out triple by Zach Neto, followed by an RBI single off the back of Jack Lopez. Whatever…
However, there were a couple of nice Dodger moments in the game. First, James Paxton got off to a shaky start but settled down nicely toward the back half of his outing. He ended up with a pretty decent line for the evening: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. Not bad. It will be interesting to see what happens to Paxton once Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw return to the active roster. But for now, it looks like he’s going to pitch out of the number 5 spot in the rotation.
Offensively, it was nice to see Freddie Freeman get a homer on the same day that he appeared at his old high school just down the road to open up a new clubhouse at the baseball field at El Modena High in the city of Orange. And seeing Will Smith go back-to-back with Freeman to get the Dodgers back in the game was nice, too. Gavin Lux tying the game with his first homer of the spring was also a welcome sight.
Probably the funnest part of the game was watching SportsNet LA analyst Eric Karros cheering on his son Jared make his debut in Dodger Blue. And the younger Karros, a recent guest on our Bleed Los Dodgers podcast, acquitted himself nicely, pitching two shut-out innings, giving up only one hit while striking out four. Well done, young man!
In Ohtani news, the slugger got a nice welcome from the Anaheim faithful in his return to the Big A, but he still struggled in his two at-bats, striking out twice before leaving the game early. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes to get his groove back after these last ten days.
We’re back to real games on Thursday, with the Dodgers’ home opener against the St. Louis Cardinals. Tyler Glasnow will fulfill a childhood dream by starting the game for the team he grew up rooting for as a kid. He’ll face Myles Mikolas, who is making the opening day start mostly because of injuries to the Cards’ rotation. Game Time 1:10 pm. Call in sick, leave work early, and get thee to a TV for the first home game in what promises to be a very eventful season!
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