miguel rojas

The Angels flipped the script on the Dodgers, preventing a Freeway Series season sweep with a 13-5 win Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

Emmet Sheehan’s start only lasted 1 ⅓ innings, as he struggled to keep his pitch count low. He threw 35 of his 49 pitches in the second inning alone. Many of those went to Nick Madrigal, who battled Sheehan in a 14-pitch at-bat in which Madrigal won two ABS challenges.

“I thought the stuff was good coming in,” said manager Dave Roberts about Sheehan. “After the first inning, I just didn’t feel comfortable getting him past the 40-pitch mark in one inning. I’m not going to put this guy in harm’s way.”

The Angels third baseman drew a walk, marking the beginning of the end for Sheehan, who already allowed a single. The 26-year-old pitcher loaded the bases with another walk. Angels catcher Sebastián Rivero drove in two runs with a center-field single.

“Frustrating,” Sheehan called his outing. “Couldn’t put guys away, not efficient.”

The game shifted into an unexpected bullpen game, and the Dodgers shuffled through seven pitchers. Edgardo Henriquez retired five consecutive batters. But the Dodgers’ spiral continued. Jo Adell reached first after a ball deflected off the glove of Miguel Rojas. Adell then moved to second on a passed ball by catcher Dalton Rushing. Reliever Blake Treinen then gave up a walk and before Rivero hit another two-run single.

Madrigal beat the Dodgers (42-24) in another double-digit pitch plate appearance in the fifth. Home plate umpire Dan Iassogna called a third strike, but Madrigal argued with the umpire, emphatically slapping his head. After an ABS review, the pitch was determined to be a ball. Rushing, seemingly not pleased with a borderline check-swing call, argued with Iassogna. In the end, a 12-pitch at-bat resulted in another walk.

Coupled with a missed call for a walk on a foul-tip earlier in the game, the check-swing call added to a frustrating afternoon for the Dodgers.

“It should be reviewable,” Roberts said of the foul tip. “That changed the game, and obviously the Madrigal check-swing. I felt that he went. That did impact the game.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts walks on the field during the seventh inning Sunday against the Angels.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Roberts replaced Alex Vesia with Jonathan Hernández, who gave up a two-run single to Jose Siri. Miguel Rojas threw out Madrigal at home on the hit to limit the damage.

In the third inning, Kyle Tucker drove in a run on a groundout that landed a foot away from home plate, but it gave Shohei Ohtani just enough time to sprint home after Rivero threw to first.

Still, the Dodgers, who had outscored the Angels 41-5 in games this season before Sunday, struggled. Twice, Rushing hit singles. Twice, Ryan Ward, the next batter, grounded into a double play, dashing any momentum. Rushing and Ward hit back-to-back home runs to right field in the sixth, but the Dodgers couldn’t capitalize on the momentum.

Rushing received more playing time than predicted this series, but he said he embraced the opportunity. He matched his career-high with four hits on Sunday. His home run was his first since April 20.

“This year, my whole goal was make sure if there’s an opportunity that I can pick a day that Will [Smith] needs rest, make sure that I can provide just as much as he does with the bat as well as behind the plate,” Rushing said Saturday. “He knows I’ll catch every game if he can’t go back there.”

Catcher Will Smith did not play Sunday because of neck stiffness, despite Roberts predicting the catcher would return for the series finale. Imaging on Smith’s neck came back negative, though it’s unclear if he’ll play Tuesday against Pittsburgh.

“It’s not anything serious, but it’s something that is preventing him from playing,” Roberts said. “It’s kind of a day-to-day thing.”

Rushing’s and Ward’s home runs were quickly negated when Adell hit a two-run homer to left-center field. Zach Neto also hammered a seventh-inning, three-run home run. By the time the game concluded, the bottom of the Angels lineup batted 13 for 15, walking four times. The Angels (25-41) could’ve scored more if not for Neto and Mike Trout, who hit a combined one for 12.

“The bottom half of the order, they were fouling off a lot of balls, we couldn’t put those guys out,” Roberts said. “But, yeah, the Madrigal at-bat really was a difference today.”

Glasnow talks about his injury

Dodgers starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow (back spasms), who was put on the 60-day injured list Saturday, attributed his slow recovery to trying to come back too soon. He plans to rest a few days before building back up.

“It’s uncomfortable,” Glasnow said. “When I get into my load, something feels weird. The more I go, the more it starts to aggravate it. Generally, before I start to throw, as long as it’s completely gone, it gets over the hump, it’s gone, and then I can get back to full speed. I just feel like I haven’t gotten there yet.”

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.

DENVER — What do you know? The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.

With a 9-6 loss Sunday at Coors Field, the two-time defending World Series champions lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Dodgers again couldn’t hold a lead, letting the Rockies tee off for 15 hits.

Nor could the Dodgers keep up offensively at the hitter-friendly park — though they put some pressure on in the ninth inning, when Shohei Ohtani led off with a ground-rule double and the Dodgers scored twice to cut the lead to three runs. Then the new guy, Ryan Ward, made the final out in his big league debut, robbed of a hit and a chance to keep chipping away by a diving Troy Johnston in right field.

Before that, the Rockies — who beat the Dodgers twice in 13 meetings all of last season — chased starter Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning and then ruffled the Dodgers’ relievers. That included closer Edwin Díaz, who came on in the eighth and promptly gave up three singles, a walk and two runs before being pulled with the Dodgers trailing 8-4.

Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki gave up three runs on seven hits in 4-2/3 innings Sunday against the Rockies in Denver.

(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

He and Blake Treinen combined to face eight batters without getting an out.

“They both weren’t sharp,” said manager Dave Roberts, who had theories but not many answers — though he did have real concern, especially about Díaz, who recently had his right knee checked out by the medical staff.

Roberts said the closer wanted to pitch after nine days off, even though it wasn’t a save situation. But his velocity was slightly down (95.4 mph vs. 95.8) and so, “today was a tough evaluation,” the manager said.

“It really was,” Roberts said. “Because, you know, I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really.”

And losing for the second time to the Rockies, who are now 9-13? Being in danger of losing their four-game series, after arriving in Denver without having lost to a National League opponent, against a club that hasn’t made the postseason since 2018?

It’s well below the bar the Dodgers have set, and it added a bitter note to Ward’s otherwise sweet debut.

Ward punched a big league clock for the first time wearing No. 67 and cranked his first hit off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning, lining a changeup to right field for a single that scored Andy Pages, made it 3-0 and got the 20-some members of Ward’s party up, jumping in place, hugging and high-fiving.

“When I was on first base, I got to see them all jumping around up there,” Ward said. “That was a pretty special moment.”

He also singled in the sixth and swung on the first pitch in his first at-bat, a fly out in the third inning.

The Dodgers gave Sasaki a 2-0 lead in the third. Alex Freeland drove in Hyeseong Kim, and Shohei Ohtani doubled in Freeland — and extended his career-best on-base streak to 51 games, moving past Willie Keeler into third place in Dodgers history.

Sasaki went 4-2/3 innings, threw 78 pitches and gave up three runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two. His ERA after his fourth start: 6.11, worst in the six-man rotation.

The Dodgers fell behind 6-4 in the seventh when Treinen — who was cleared Friday after he was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice — gave up four consecutive hits, including a two-run home run by Mickey Moniak.

The result likely will be a minor detail when Ward tells the story years from now about getting the call after first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list.

The Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and reigning Pacific Coast League MVP spent the last seven years in the minors. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 122 runs with a .937 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for triple-A Oklahoma City, and he has a 1.020 OPS and four homers this year.

Ward made it a point to improve his chase rate, draw more walks and get on base more frequently, everything the Dodgers asked of him. He also passed the broadest patience test.

“The plate discipline, being a better hitter … he’s done all that,” Roberts said. “He’s improved his defense. But honestly, for me, just not to let his lack of opportunity in the big leagues deter him. That’s easy when you get frustrated and let it affect performance, and he hasn’t done that.”

If anything, Ward said, the waiting made him better.

“I used it to keep going. ‘OK, if I’m not there yet, what do I have to do to get there?’” he said. “‘What part of my game do I need to work on to keep getting better?’

“I used it as fire to keep working.”

That will be the Dodgers’ assignment too.

In the finale of the four-game series Monday, the Dodgers are expected to start left-hander Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12) against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63).