Tropeano, Angels stroll past Dodgers
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Angels broke open a tight game with a five-run fifth inning, and they rode the right arm of Nick Tropeano to an 8-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium.
Mike Trout had three hits and a walk and scored three times to lead an Angels offense that tallied 12 hits. Albert Pujols, C.J. Cron and Rafael Ortega each had two hits, and Cron and Ortega both drove in two runs.
It was more than enough support for Tropeano, who gave up one run on seven hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out four. It marked the first time in his 19 career major league starts that Tropeano (2-2) was able to get through seven innings.
It looked as if he might fall short again Wednesday when the Dodgers loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh inning. However, with the Angels holding a seven-run lead, Angels manager Mike Scioscia gave Tropeano the opportunity to work out of it, and he did.
First, Tropeano struck out pinch hitter Enrique Hernandez, and then he got Justin Turner to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Dodgers starter Mike Bolsinger, making his first start of the season after straining an oblique muscle in spring training, did not fare nearly as well. He was in trouble often in the early innings but managed to work out of jams because the Angels were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. The Angels' only early run came on Trout's first-inning homer.
Bolsinger's good fortune ran out in the fifth when the Angels knocked him out of the game and put up a five-spot. The key hit of the inning was Ortega's two-run bloop double, as Dodgers left fielder Trayce Thompson came up short in a diving attempt. It was Ortega's first game back after the spending the last two weeks at Triple-A Salt Lake. He replaced the injured Daniel Nava for the second time this season.
Joc Pederson and Carl Crawford each had two hits for the Dodgers in a losing effort.
The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Trout homered off Bolsinger, driving an 86 mph fastball that went over the heart of the plate into the seats in left for his team-leading ninth homer of the season.
In the fourth, the Dodgers' Justin Turner was thrown out at the plate when he tried to score on a grounder to third by Howie Kendrick. However, the Dodgers got a clutch two-out hit from Joc Pederson, who drove in Corey Seager with an opposite-field single to left to tie the game at 1-1.
The Angels finally broke through in the fifth when they knocked Bolsinger out of the game. Reliever Louis Coleman entered with two on and one out and immediately walked Pujols to load the bases.
Cron drove in the first run of the inning with an infield single, and a second run scored on an error by Kendrick at first base. The key hit of the inning came on Ortega's two-run bloop double, and the Angels added a fifth run in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Perez for a 6-1 lead.
NOTES: Angels C Geovany Soto tore the meniscus in his right knee while working out Wednesday, and he will have surgery Thursday. Soto is the 10th player on the disabled list for the Angels and he will be replaced by Jett Bandy, who was hitting .274 with two homers and 21 RBIs for Triple-A Salt Lake. ... Dodgers RHP Mike Bolsinger was activated from the DL to start the game. INF Charlie Culberson was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. ... Dodgers OF Scott Van Slyke, out since April 10 with low back irritation, is working out at the spring complex in Arizona and is expected to begin a rehab assignment soon. ... Dodgers 1B Adrian Gonzalez (tight back) was not in the starting lineup for the second consecutive, but manager Dave Roberts said Gonzalez could return by Thursday or Friday. ... The Angels are reportedly working out the final details of a contract for RHP Tim Lincecum, who likely would need three to four weeks of rehab starts before joining the major league club.