The Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 5-2 on Thursday night, reclaiming first in the National League West after San Diego lost to Milwaukee. The Dodgers also escaped a third straight series loss at home ahead of their weekend road series against the Angels.
Designated hitter Will Smith, whom Dodgers manager Dave Roberts described earlier in the day as “unflappable,” hit from the leadoff spot and homered to right-center field in the first inning to set the tone for the series-splitting win.
The decision to put Smith in the leadoff spot allowed Roberts to maximize the 31-year-old’s plate appearances without moving other players after Shohei Ohtani was held out of the lineup.
The Dodgers (26-18) are trying to lighten Ohtani’s workload after his recent struggles at the plate. It’s the first time a healthy Ohtani has been out of back-to-back batting orders, except for the paternity list, since the universal designated hitter rule was implemented in 2022.
Though the Dodgers outlasted the Giants (18-26) without Ohtani’s help, the team’s compounded mistakes almost cost it a win.
In the second inning, the bottom of the lineup strung together two hits to score Max Muncy, who reached on a walk. However, after Miguel Rojas softly hit a ground ball to Giants starter Landen Roupp, Teoscar Hernández found himself stranded in no-man’s land after running toward home from third — there was no force play at the plate.
Rojas, who stood on the basepath, slammed his helmet down in frustration after Smith struck out to end the inning.
Will Smith gets a face full of sunflower seeds from teammate Andy Pages after hitting a leadoff home run in the first inning for the Dodgers on Thursday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Rojas wasn’t the only one upset. Dalton Rushing was shown on the game broadcast breaking his bat in the dugout and slamming his leg guard on the back bench after striking out in the fourth inning. Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan shared some words of encouragement with the catcher and patted him on the back.
Sheehan’s night was relatively uneventful before the fifth. He put together three hitless innings before San Francisco’s Rafael Devers hit a one-out single to left field.
From there, things got worse. In the fifth, Jung Hoo Lee hit an inside-the-park home run when Hernández misread the ball off the left-field wall in foul territory, allowing the ball to roll past him. Rojas’ relay throw was too high for Rushing to catch, and Lee slid into home to become the first Giants player to hit an inside-the-park homer at Dodger Stadium.
But the Dodgers responded in the sixth. After Max Muncy reached base on a force out at second and was moved over to third on a single from Hernández, Alex Call delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single to right field. Rojas then blooped a ball over the infield to drive in Call.
Sheehan finished his night after six innings, giving up two earned runs, two hits with six strikeouts and two walks. With combined efforts from relievers Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia and Edgardo Henriquez, the Dodgers shut down the Giants the rest of the way.
TORONTO — Jo Adell hit a pair of solo homers, José Soriano struck out seven over 7⅔ innings to stop a three-start winless steak and the Angels avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 6-1 on Sunday.
Oswald Peraza added a two-run homer as the Angels ended an eight-game road losing streak dating to April 16, while also ending a nine-game slump in Toronto.
Soriano (6-2) gave up two hits and a walk in the first inning, including Kazuma Okamoto’s RBI double, but didn’t allow another runner until Myles Straw reached in the eighth with an infield hit, ending a streak of 20 consecutive outs.
Sam Bachman replaced Soriano after back-to-back singles loaded the bases and got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to ground into a forceout.
Peraza hit a two-run drive in a the fifth and Adell homered in the sixth and the ninth. All three homers came off Eric Lauer (1-5), who allowed six runs and five hits in five innings. He hasn’t won since March 29 against the Athletics.
Vaughn Grissom added a two-run double.
Blue Jays right fielder Addison Barger was scratched from the lineup because of a sore right shoulder. Barger returned Saturday after missing 29 games because of a sore left ankle and made a 101.2-mph throw to retire Jorge Soler at home plate.
Up next for the Angels: Cleveland LHP Joey Cantillo (2-1, 3.43 ERA) starts a series opener against the visiting Angels.
Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski had a chance to slam the door shut on the Braves’ second-inning rally. He fielded Sean Murphy’s comebacker, and set his feet to start a would-be inning-ending double play at second base.
Angled up the mound, however, he sailed the throw, which second baseman Alex Freeland wrangled to at least salvage an out.
The way the Dodgers’ offense has been scuffling, however, their 7-2 loss hinged on that four-run second inning.
“It’s just,one half-inning of being pissed off about it, and then you’ve got to keep going back out there and doing your thing,” said Wrobleski, who was charged with seven runs but gutted out a career-high 8⅔ innings. “So yeah, it’s frustrating. It’s annoying because now I look back at it and, yeah, that’s what cost me from having a good outing.”
With the Dodgers’ rubber-match loss, the Braves took sole possession of the best record in the majors. The Dodgers (24-16) dropped the series to the Braves (28-13) after scoring three or fewer runs in each game.
“I thought we turned the corner in Houston,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We kind of got back down a little bit this series. … It’s hard to articulate. There’s some empty at-bats, there’s some early outs that are not just quality outs. There’s the passing the baton to the next guy — and sometimes it just doesn’t happen.”
After Wrobleski cruised through the first inning in just six pitches — first-pitch flyout, four-pitch strikeout, first-pitch groundout — he had an uncharacteristically long second inning.
After striking out Matt Olson, Wrobleski gave up three straight singles for the Braves’ first run. Michael Harris II bunted into the open space on the third-base side to reach base. The other two hits came from Austin Riley and Eli White, both of whom registered exit velocities of over 108 mph, according to Statcast.
Then came Wrobleski’s high throw.
Wrobleski walked the next batter he faced, No. 9 hitter Jorge Mateo, in four pitches, prompting a visit from pitching coach Mark Prior.
Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski pitched 8⅔ innings against the Braves on Sunday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
With the bases loaded and facing Mauricio Dubón, Wrobleski hung an inside slider belt high. Dubón roped a grounder down the left-field line for a bases-clearing double.
The four runs Wrobleski gave up in the second were twice as many as he had allowed in his five previous starts combined.
Then he turned the outing around.
“Just bouncing back after that inning there, and just continuing to attack the zone and do what I do,” Wrobleski said. “I play this game with a long-term view and mindset of, in the long run, what works out, and what I know works. And just continue to do that and see how deep I can get into the game each time out.”
Wrobleski retired 16 straight to get through the seventh inning without further damage. Then in the eighth, he gave up a solo homer to reigning NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin.
Wrobleski was back on the mound again in the ninth, a career first, but he gave up another solo homer, this time to Olson.
Wrobleski exited when his pitch count reached 100, drilling Mike Yastrzemski in the helmet with his final pitch. Wrobleski’s seven strikeouts tied his career high.
Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski reacts after giving up a home run to Atlanta’s Drake Baldwin in the eighth inning Sunday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
“For him again to go eight-plus was huge as we look out and have 10 in a row coming,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers’ offense again sputtered. In the sixth, they were handed a gift in the form of three straight two-out walks from starting pitcher Bryce Elder, before he was replaced by reliever Robert Suarez.
Max Muncy then drove a deep fly drive to right. But Braves right fielder Eli White caught it, and held on to it as he slammed into the wall, ending the frame.
“‘Who do I gotta pay off at this point?’” Muncy joked, noting the amount of hard contact he has had lately without results. “Next at-bat, I went up there and just said, ‘I’m going to swing straight up. But if I get in the air, they can’t catch it.’ And it kind of worked.”
More than kind of. Muncy put the Dodgers on the board with a two-run home run in the eighth. But it was too little too late.
“I think everyone’s trying to do a little bit more right now,” Muncy said. “We all know as a group that we’re struggling, and that’s just something that everyone’s trying to take on their own shoulder instead of just passing the baton — myself included. Once we get back to everyone just having really good team at-bats, I think things will start clicking for guys without even thinking about it.
“Just a rough stretch, and we’ve got to get through it.”
Betts on track
Mookie Betts celebrates after hitting a double for the Dodgers against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on March 30.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
Shortstop Mookie Betts (strained right oblique) is expected to be activated and in the lineup Monday, and the Dodgers will have to open a roster spot for him.
Betts’ injury created an opportunity for Hyeseong Kim, who began the season in triple-A. He entered Monday hitting .301 in 28 games, and in a shortstop platoon with Miguel Rojas, he’s shown off his glove.
“I think that he’s done a much better job of controlling the strike zone,” Roberts said. “He’s got the ability to put the bat on the ball, get hits, steal bases, play good defense. And I think he’s done all that.”
Freeland beat Kim in spring training for an opening day roster spot, but even though he has improved at the plate of late, Freeland entered Sunday with a .672 OPS. The Dodgers also have utility player Santiago Espinal, who has logged 34 plate appearances this season.
“Obviously we’ve got a tough decision,” Roberts said. “All of the options potentially for the corresponding move, these guys have done a great job and served a very good purpose for our club. It’s a good problem in the sense of where we’re at. But it’s a potentially tough conversation.”
Roster move
In order to add bullpen help, the Dodgers called up right-hander Wyatt Mills. Mills was a non-roster invitee in spring training, after signing a minor-league deal with the Dodgers last August. Mills, who underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2023, last pitched in the majors in 2022.
He was the only Dodgers reliever who pitched in Sunday’s game, allowing two hits.
In a corresponding move, the Dodgers optioned Paul Gervase, who threw three innings Saturday in the Dodgers’ 7-2 loss to the Braves, to triple-A Oklahoma City. And they transferred closer Edwin Díaz (elbow surgery) from the 15-day IL to the 60-day in a procedural move. Díaz isn’t expected to return from the IL until after the All-Star break.
ST. LOUIS — Andy Pages tapped the top of his helmet as plate umpire Chris Guccione wound up to punch him out, taking one final stab at extending the Dodgers’ scoring opportunity in the eighth inning.
The Busch Stadium scoreboard lit up with a graphic of the strike zone. The ball flew in, touching the top of the rectangle and turning it red. The call was confirmed. Strike three.
In a 7-2 loss to the Cardinals on Friday, that was one of six at-bats the Dodgers had with runners in scoring position. They didn’t record a hit in any of them.
Instead, the Dodgers (20-12) only scored on Max Muncy’s double with a runner on first in the second inning, and Kyle Tucker’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the sixth. It marked their third straight loss, scoring two or fewer runs in each.
“It’s been hard,” said left fielder Teoscar Hernández, who had a ground-ball single and a walk Friday. “Obviously, we don’t want to start the season the way we have started. But we have done a lot of work. Everybody knows this is not easy, hitting, being consistent. We just have to go up there trying to have good at-bats, create situations, put the ball in play, get on base.
“But I think we got unlucky. A lot of guys have been hitting the ball really good, right at people. But we control what we can control, and just leave the rest to baseball.”
Even amid a down stretch, the Dodgers still showed off their scoring power with a pair of 12-run performances in the last two weeks — even if one was at hitter-friendly Coors Field. And they entered Friday leading the majors with an .802 OPS. So all is not lost.
The top of the batting order, however, isn’t producing. Mookie Betts, who would be batting No. 3 in the order, has been out since early April with a strained right oblique.
The Dodgers entered Friday with the top three spots in the batting order producing a .734 OPS, ranking 22nd in MLB.
The bottom half of the order, and Pages in particular, was carrying the offense early on. But when those hitters cooled, the top of the order didn’t fill the gap.
“Unfortunately, we have a lot more guys that are not swinging the bats well than that are,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And so shuffling the lineup, I just don’t think that’s a solution right now — outside of versus left versus right [pitching matchups].”
On Friday, the Dodgers scored fewer runs than the Cardinals scored in the first inning alone.
“They swung the bat better than we did,” Roberts said. “And we didn’t play well enough.”
Dodgers right-hander Emmet Sheehan’s start went south in one at-bat.
Dodgers starting pitcher Emmet Sheehan delivers during the first inning Friday against the Cardinals.
(Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images)
With two outs in the first inning and runners on first and second, Sheehan worked ahead to an 0-2 count against Nolan Gorman.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith then attempted a back-pick at second base, but his errant throw bounced to the opposite side of the base and past shortstop Miguel Rojas.
With runners at second and third, Sheehan did not declare he was going to switch to throwing from the stretch instead of the hybrid position. So, he was called for a balk, bringing the first run of the game across the plate.
“Mental mistake,” Sheehan said. “I know the rule. It was just in the moment, I didn’t declare it. And, yeah, unacceptable.”
Gorman battled Sheehan to a full count. Then Sheehan left a high fastball over the plate, and Gorman sent it into the right-field stands for a two-run blast.
Sheehan bounced back with a 1-2-3 second inning. But he surrendered a solo homer to slugger Alec Burleson in the third.
By the time Sheehan exited with two outs in the fifth inning, before Gorman was due up again, he’d given up a season-high eight hits.
“I feel like we’ve been making progress and then taking a step back,” Sheehan said. “And, yeah, it’s definitely frustrating. But we know we need to work on, it’s just fixing it now.”
The Cardinals (19-13) widened their lead in the seventh inning, putting together a three-run rally against reliever Edgardo Henriquez. And the Dodgers offense never threatened a comeback.
“We’re in a little funk offensively, which is certainly obvious,” Roberts said. “But you’ve just got to keep going. I believe in the guys, the hitting coaches do, the guys do. You’ve got to keep working and know that it will click one night and we all come together. But it’s not one at-bat. It’s not one particular hitter that is bringing the group down. We’ve all got to come together and expect things to change.”
CHICAGO — Rookie Sam Antonnaci hit a tying triple with two outs in the ninth inning and Colson Montgomery had a winning single in the 10th, lifting the Chicago White Sox to a 3-2 victory Wednesday for a three-game sweep that extended the Angels’ losing streak to six.
Mike Trout hit his 10th home run of the season for the Angels, who have lost 10 of 11 and dropped to 12-20. Additionally, Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi left after two innings with left shoulder tightness.
Kikuchi gave up no runs on two hits and a walk with one strikeout before exiting. His average fastball velocity dropped from 94.9 mph in the first inning to 92.8 mph in the second.
A 34-year-old from Japan, Kikuchi was an All-Star last season with the Angels. He is 0-3 with a 5.81 ERA in 31 innings over seven starts.
With the White Sox trailing 2-1, Tristan Peters was hit by a Ryan Zeferjahn pitch with one out in the ninth and scored on Antonacci’s triple.
Montgomery singled with one out in the 10th off Drew Pomeranz (0-3) for his first big league walk-off hit, giving the White Sox their second series sweep this season.
Seranthony Domínguez pitched a perfect 10th.
Former Dodger Miguel Vargas had an RBI single in the third off Mitch Farris, recalled from triple-A before the game, and Trout’s homer tied the score in the fourth.
Vaughn Grissom’s first big league homer since Sept. 7, 2022, for Atlanta gave the Angels a 2-1 lead in the seventh against Erick Fedde, who gave up five hits, struck out six and walked none in a season-high seven innings.
Up next
Angels: RHP Walbert Ureña (0-3, 4.77 ERA) takes the mound at home Friday against the New York Mets and RHP Christian Scott (0-0. 6.75).
White Sox: Rookie LHP Noah Schultz (1-1, 3.52) makes his fourth career start for the White Sox on Friday when they open a trip Friday at San Diego, which starts RHP Germán Márquez (3-1, 4.38).
Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski navigated early command issues, issuing three walks in the first two innings before finding his rhythm to get through six frames without allowing a run. He limited the Cubs (17-11) to four hits.
The Dodgers’ bats came alive again in the sixth. Pages led with a double and Kyle Tucker drew a walk, setting up Dalton Rushing’s RBI single through the right side of the field. Tucker later scored on an errant back-pick attempt by Cubs catcher Carson Kelly.
Kyle Tucker scores for the Dodgers in the fifth inning against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
The next inning, designated hitter Shohei Ohtani homered for the first time in two weeks, suggesting the end of his short-lived slump.
Dodgers relievers Edgardo Henriquez, Jack Dreyer and Kyle Hurt completed the shutout.
Will Smith sidelined
Dodgers catcher Will Smith was out of the lineup for the second straight game because of lingering back tightness, according to manager Dave Roberts.
“It’s one of those where he could play if needed,” Roberts said. “But we just thought it was smart to give him an extra day.”
Roberts said the Dodgers were not considering putting Smith on the injured list and hoped he would return to the lineup Monday against the Miami Marlins. It helped that backup catcher Rushing entered Sunday batting .400 with seven home runs in just 11 games.
“You weigh out the positives and negatives,” Roberts said. “But Dalton going the way he’s going, it just only seems like downside to push [Smith] now.”
