Freeway Series continues at Angel Stadium

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On Monday the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Los Angeles Dodgers started the Freeway Series at Dodger Stadium. Both managers, Mike Sciascia of the Angels and Dave Roberts of the Dodgers, said it was a rivalry, although Sciascia said it was more so for the fans.

Albert Pujols
Albert Pujols

What we know for sure is that two powerful lineups will square off against each other over four games. The first two were at Dodger Stadium and the last two will be at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

In game one the Angels, led by Albert Pujols and Mike Trout, lit up Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda, getting four runs in the third inning. Maeda pitched one more inning. He helped his cause though by hitting a single to left in the second inning that scored Trayce Thompson.

But the Angels weren’t done scoring. In the 7th inning they scored three more off reliever Pedro Baez.

The Dodgers made it a game, scoring three runs off Angels starter Matt Shoemaker. Thompson had another great performance, getting two homeruns, one off Shoemaker in the 4th and another off Mike Morin in the eight.

The final score was 7-6, Angels.

Game two was Clayton Kershaw putting on a pitching clinic. He gave up one run in the second, but pitched solidly for eight complete innings. In the post game press conference manager Dave Roberts said Angels slugger Mike Trout shook his head, as if to say he was “taking my medicine,” showing his respect for Kershaw.

Then there was Kershaw’s slide to try and take third base in the third inning on a single by Chase Utley. As poor a decision as that might have been on Kershaw’s part, it did advance Utley to second.

Joc Pederson
Joc Pederson

Joc Pederson had a very good night as well, getting two homeruns, one off the starter Jered Weaver and another off reliever A.J. Achter.  Corey Seager got a dinger off Achter as well. The final score was 5-1, Dodgers.

Tonight game three is starting in Anaheim. Angel Stadium will have nearly equal measures of Angels and Dodgers fans. Starting for the Dodgers will be Mike Bolsinger and for the Angels, Nick Tropeano.

Below are two of Claudia Gestro’s video reports from this series.

Photos by Claudia Gestro.