Resurgent Angels down Dodgers
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Mike Trout homered, singled, walked, stole a base, scored twice and drove in three runs to lead a resurgent Los Angeles Angels to a 7-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night at Angel Stadium.
The win completed a two-game sweep for the Angels in Anaheim after the two teams split two at Dodger Stadium earlier this week. The Angels have won six of seven overall.
Trout certainly is at the forefront of the Angels offense, but he is not the only hitter that has gotten hot. The Angels have scored at least seven runs in six of their last eight games. By contrast, they scored at least seven runs only twice in April over 24 games.
Thursday they had 11 hits in all, including Carlos Perez's first homer of the season, three hits by Yunel Escobar, and two each from Johnny Giavotella and Gregorio Petit. Giavotella had the big hit of the night, a two-out, two-run single in the fifth inning that put the Angels up for good.
Neither starting pitcher was able to get through the fifth inning. Angels starter Jhoulys Chacin went 4 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on six hits and three walks. Dodgers starter Ross Stripling (1-3) went 4 2/3 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits and three walks to get the loss.
The pitching heroes on the night came from the Angels bullpen. Jose Alvarez, Greg Mahle, Fernando Salas and Joe Smith (fifth save) combined for 4 2/3 innings and didn't allow a hit. Alvarez (1-1) got the win.
The Dodgers offense was led by Chase Utley, who had two hits, and ex-Angel Howie Kendrick, who had a two-run triple.
Utley got the Dodgers started with a leadoff bunt single in the first inning. He took second on a wild pitch, third on a groundout to first by Corey Seager and scored on a wild pitch.
The Angels got the run back in the bottom half after Yunel Escobar led off with a single. Kole Calhoun hit into a force play, took second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Trout.
The Dodgers took a 3-1 lead in the third inning on a two-out, two-run triple by ex-Angel Howie Kendrick. Chacin got ahead in the count 0-2 but left a pitch up and out over the plate, and Kendrick went the other way, driving the ball into the right-field corner past a diving Calhoun.
The Angels got to within 3-2 in their half of the third on a solo homer by Trout, his 10th of the season.
The Dodgers added a run in the fifth on a pair of walks, a single and an RBI fielder's choice by Joc Pederson for a 4-2 lead. The advantage lasted only until the Angels put up three runs in the bottom of the inning to knock Stripling out of the game.
The Angels loaded the bases with one out before Stripling seemed to get a big out, striking out Albert Pujols. But he hit C.J. Cron with a pitch to force home a run.
Stripling was replaced by Chris Hatcher, who gave up a two-run single to Giavotella, and the Angels had a 5-4 lead.
NOTES: The Angels signed RHP Tim Lincecum, a two-time National League Cy Young award winner, to a one-year contract according to a number of published reports. Lincecum will make approximately $2 million with the chance to make as much as $1.7 million more in incentives. Lincecum, who had hip surgery last year, would need about 3-to-4 weeks of minor league rehab starts before he's ready to join the major league roster. ... The Dodgers called up RHP Chin-hui Tsao from Triple-A Oklahoma City, and optioned RHP Mike Bolsinger to Oklahoma City to make room on the roster. Tsao was 1-1 with a 3.31 ERA and six saves for Oklahoma City. Tsao's stay on the roster may not be long however. The Dodgers are carrying 13 pitchers, but likely will go back down to 12 on Friday when they return to playing National League games. ... Dodgers 1B Adrian Gonzalez took about 50 swings in the batting cage before Friday's game and reported his back is fine, though he was not in the starting lineup for the third game in a row. He is available for pinch-hitting duty. ... Angels 2B Johnny Giavotella entered the game with a seven-game hitting streak during which he is 11-for-26.