By Field Level Media
Jo Adell bounced a single into left field to drive in Taylor Ward from third base in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Los Angeles Angels, who earlier turned the eighth triple play in team history, a wild 7-6 walk-off Freeway Series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif.
Ward, who went 2-for-5 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBIs, began the inning as the automatic runner at second and advanced to third on a bunt single by Christian Moore, setting the stage for Adell’s game-winner. It was the ninth walk-off win of the season for the Angels, tied for the most in the majors.
Connor Brogdon (3-1) pitched a hitless inning of relief to pick up the victory for the Angels, their sixth straight win over the Dodgers in Freeway Series play.
Shohei Ohtani, who hit into the triple play in his previous at-bat, led off the top of the ninth with a go-ahead home run to give the Dodgers a 6-5 lead. Ohtani hit a 1-0 cutter by Kenley Jansen 404 feet down the right field line for his 43rd home run, breaking a tie with Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber for the National League lead and extending his homer streak to four games. It snapped a streak of 21 games by Jansen where he hadn’t allowed an earned run.
The Angels rallied to tie it in the bottom of the ninth when Luis Rengifo scored on Nolan Schanuel’s sacrifice fly against reliever Alex Vesia. Ben Casparius (7-5) then got Ward to strike out to end the threat.
The triple play came in the sixth inning with the score tied, 5-5. Miguel Rojas and Dalton Rushing began the inning with back-to-back singles against reliever Brock Burke, bringing Ohtani to the plate. Ohtani then hit a soft liner over the second base bag where shortstop Zach Neto caught it, stepped on the bag to double-off Rojas and then threw to Schanuel at first to triple-off Rushing. It was marked the team’s first triple play since Aug. 18, 2023 against Tampa Bay.
Rushing homered and had two hits and two RBIs, Teoscar Hernandez had two hits and two RBIs and Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages also had two hits for the Dodgers, who fell into a tie for first place in the National League West with the San Diego Padres with their third straight loss.
After the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Hernandez, the Angels answered with three runs in the bottom half on an RBI single by Ward followed by an RBI double by Yoan Moncada and an RBI groundout by Adell.
The Dodgers tied it, 3-3, in the second on a two-run home run to right by Rushing, driving in Alex Freeland, who had walked.
Ward put the Angels back in front in the third with his 28th home run, a 413-foot drive to center. Bryce Teodosio extended the lead to 5-3 in the fourth when he doubled in Rengifo, who had walked, for his first major league RBI.
The Dodgers tied it, 5-5, in the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Hernandez and a bases-loaded walk by Pages off reliever Ryan Zeferjahn.
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