Christian Walker homered twice and the Houston Astros beat the Angels 6-1 on Saturday night, a couple of hours after getting eliminated from playoff contention.
Zach Cole and Jesús Sánchez also went deep for the Astros, who will miss the postseason for the first time since 2016.
Walker was batting in the second inning when Cleveland scored in the bottom of the ninth at Progressive Field for a 3-2 victory over Texas that clinched the final American League playoff spot for the Guardians and eliminated the Astros.
That snapped Houston’s streak of eight consecutive playoff appearances, a run that featured seven straight trips to the AL Championship Series from 2017-2023 and World Series titles in 2017 and 2022.
With Saturday night’s game rendered moot, Astros manager Joe Espada pulled his top three batters — Jose Altuve, Isaac Paredes and Carlos Correa — after two innings.
Cole followed Yainer Diaz’s second-inning single with a two-run homer off Angels starter Caden Dana (0-4). Walker led off the fourth with a homer for a 3-0 lead. Cole walked and Sanchez lined a two-run homer to right field for a 5-0 lead. Walker’s solo shot — his 27th of the season — made it 6-1 in the ninth.
Houston starter AJ Blubaugh gave up one hit in four scoreless innings against the Angels (72-89), and reliever J.P. France (1-0) allowed one run and two hits in three innings, striking out five and walking one.
Dana, the Angels’ rookie right-hander, permitted five runs and five hits in seven innings.
Key moment: France gave up an RBI double to Jo Adell and walked Logan O’Hoppe to put two on with one out in the sixth, but the right-hander struck out Christian Moore and Oswald Peraza to preserve a 5-1 lead.
Key stat: Sunday’s season finale will be only the fourth game since the start of the 2015 season that the Astros (86-75) will play while out of postseason contention. The other three came at the end of 2016, when Houston was eliminated from the wild-card race on Sept. 29.
Up next: Astros RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (2-5, 6.71 ERA) will start Sunday against Angels LHP Sam Aldegheri (0-1, 8.00).
MILWAUKEE — Brandon Woodruff pitched five solid innings, Sal Frelick hit a three-run homer and Blake Perkins tied a career high with five RBIs to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 9-2 win over the Angels on Wednesday night.
Woodruff (7-2) gave up two hits and one run, struck out nine and threw 52 of his 69 pitches for strikes. He was pitching on 10 days rest to manage his workload after he missed last season while recovering from right shoulder surgery.
Angels starter José Soriano (10-11) exited with one out in the second after being struck by a line drive off the bat of Jake Bauers. Soriano sustained a right forearm contusion. X-rays were negative.
Connor Brogdon came on in relief and gave up an opposite-field single to Blake Perkins that drove in a pair. Frelick’s three-run homer later in the inning gave the Brewers a 5-0 lead.
Taylor Ward provided the Angels offense with homers in the fourth and sixth.
The Angels (69-83) have lost six straight, while the major league-best Brewers (93-59) have won four of five.
Key moment
After Soriano departed, the switch-hitting Perkins, batting left-handed, came up next and hit a grounder between shortstop and third on a 2-2 pitch from Brogdon to get the Brewers on the board.
Key stat
Mike Trout remains stuck on 399 career home runs after going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. Trout has homered just twice since Aug. 6, the last coming on Sept. 11.
Up next
LHP Yusei Kikuchi (6-11, 4.08 ERA) starts for the Angels against Brewers RHP Quinn Priester (13-2, 3.25) in the series finale Wednesday.
Zach Neto hit a two-run homer, Mike Trout drove in two runs and the Angels beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 on Wednesday.
Trout’s sacrifice fly in the eighth inning brought home Bryce Teodosio to give the Angels a 4-3 lead. Teodosio tripled off the top of the center-field wall, over the head of James Outman.
Trout also hit an RBI single in the third and scored on Neto’s homer off starter Taj Bradley to put the Angels ahead 3-1. It was Neto’s 26th home run of the year.
Byron Buxton tied it with a two-run shot in the sixth, his 31st homer this season.
Outman also homered, doubled and made a pair of leaping catches for the Twins. But they fell to 64-82 and were assured their first losing record since 2022.
Robert Stephenson (2-0), the fifth Angels reliever, got one out for the win. Kenley Jansen struck out two in a perfect ninth to earn his 27th save.
Cole Sands (3-4) took the loss.
Bradley gave up three runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out five.
Key moment
Teodosio’s leadoff triple in the eighth was hit over the head of Outman, who made leaping catches in the fifth and sixth. Outman hit a double in the top of the eighth that Teodosio could not see in center field.
Key stat
Minnesota stranded 11 baserunners and went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.
Up next
Angels right-hander José Soriano (10-10, 4.07) is scheduled to start Thursday night in Seattle.
Royce Lewis homered twice and drove in four runs as the Minnesota Twins beat the sloppy Angels 12-3 on Monday night.
James Outman also went deep as the Twins moved to 4-0 against the Angels this season, outscoring them 33-7.
Los Angeles committed four errors, including two by third baseman Yoan Moncada.
Lewis’ first homer grazed off the tip of Bryce Teodosio’s glove at the center field wall in the second.
Simeon Woods Richardson (6-4) allowed three runs and struck out six in five innings. Travis Adams struck out four in 1 2/3 innings of relief.
Luke Keaschall had an RBI single, Matt Wallner had a two-run double, and Austin Martin doubled and scored three runs. The Twins were still 4 for 18 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10.
Angels starter Caden Dana (0-1) struck out a career-high nine, walked five and allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings. Sebastián Rivero had an RBI double in his first major league game in almost three years.
Key moment: Lewis’ second home run made it 5-3 in the fifth and gave the Twins the lead for good as the Orange County native put on a show in his homecoming.
Key stat: It was Lewis’ third career multi-homer game. He did it on July 20 at Colorado and in Game 1 of a 2023 American League wild card playoff series against Toronto.
Up next: RHP Zebby Matthews (4-4, 4.73 ERA) starts for the Twins and RHP Kyle Hendricks (6-9, 4.81) takes the mound for the Angels as the series continues on Tuesday night.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mitch Farris pitched five effective innings to win his major league debut and Jo Adell hit a two-run homer that helped the Angels defeat the Kansas City Royals 5-1 on Tuesday night.
Adell finished with three hits and Oswald Peraza had an RBI double for the Angels, who scratched star slugger Mike Trout less than an hour before the game because of a skin infection.
Trout is considered day-to-day.
Kansas City remained 2 1/2 games behind Seattle for the last American League wild card.
Farris (1-0) walked his first batter but soon settled in. He gave up one run and three hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Royals starter Michael Lorenzen (5-9) permitted two runs and four hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out five.
Bobby Witt Jr. tripled for Kansas City in the third and scored on Vinnie Pasquantino’s sacrifice fly.
The Angels took a 2-1 lead on Adell’s two-run homer off Lorenzen in the sixth. Peraza doubled home a run in the seventh and scored on a wild pitch.
Key moment
Lorenzen took a two-hit shutout into the sixth. But after a one-out single, Adell launched a 454-foot homer to left field.
Key stat
Farris was the fourth Angels pitcher to make his MLB debut as a starter in Kansas City, following Frank Tanana (1973), Jarrod Washburn (1998) and Seth Etherton (2000).
Up next
The Royals will send right-hander Ryan Bergert (2-1, 2.67 ERA) to the mound Wednesday night. The Angels have not announced a scheduled starter.
Kyle Tucker homered twice and drove in five runs as the surging Chicago Cubs routed the Angels 12-1 on Saturday night.
Reese McGuire added a grand slam and tied a career high with five RBIs to help the Cubs (75-55) win for the seventh time in nine games.
Cade Horton (8-4) gave up three hits over six scoreless innings and Ben Brown went the rest of the way for his first major league save.
Busting out of an extended slump, Tucker has three homers in two nights following a 25-game drought. The outburst has come after he was given three games off by manager Craig Counsell earlier in the week.
Jo Adell homered late for the Angels (61-68), who totaled eight hits while losing the first two games of the series.
Victor Mederos (0-2) and Carson Fulmer were charged with all 12 of the Cubs’ runs. The Angels fell to 2-6 since pulling off a three-game sweep of the Dodgers from Aug. 11-13.
McGuire’s grand slam in the fourth gave the Cubs a 6-0 lead and they made it 10-0 in the sixth when Tucker went deep for the second time. It was Tucker’s eighth multihomer game and first since May 2024 against the Angels with Houston.
Adell’s home run in the seventh, his 29th, ended Chicago’s shutout bid.
Key moment: With two outs in the third, Michael Busch tucked a double just inside the first-base line and past a diving Nolan Schanuel to get Tucker to the plate before his first homer of the game.
Key stat: Angels star Mike Trout went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts as his 22-game on-base streak came to an end.
Up next: Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 4.93 ERA) will face his former team Sunday in a matchup against Cubs RHP Jameson Taillon (8-6, 4.26).
Junior Caminero hit his 29th and 30th homers, Christopher Morel had a go-ahead shot and six Tampa Bay pitchers combined to strike out 16 in the Rays’ 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.
Caminero hit a career-long 447-foot shot with a man on in the first, and had a solo homer in the third. Morel was 0 for 6 with six strikeouts in the series before hitting his solo homer in the seventh.
It was Caminero’s third two-homer game this season and he reached 101 RBIs for his career.
Nick Fortes also homered, his first hit in five games with the Rays since being acquired from Miami.
Starter Shane Baz struck out nine in four innings to help Tampa Bay win for the fourth time in 14 games. Garrett Cleavinger (1-4) was the winner, and Pete Fairbanks got his 19th save.
Ryan Zeferjahn (6-4) took the loss.
Mike Trout tied the score for Los Angeles with a three-run homer in the third. His 20th homer this season and 398th of his career was his 200th in Angels Stadium. He’s the first player in major league history with 200 homers and 100 steals (101) in one stadium.
The Angels loaded the bases with no outs against Griffin Jax in the eighth. But Jax, acquired from Minnesota for Taj Bradley on July 31, struck out the next three batters.
Rays center fielder Jonny DeLuca left in the sixth with right hamstring tightness after legging out a triple. DeLuca was reinstated from the 60-day IL (right shoulder strain) on July 25.
Up next
Both teams are off Thursday. Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 4.59) will pitch at Detroit against LHP Tarik Skybal (11-3, 2.18) on Friday night. Tampa Bay will start RHP Drew Rasmussen (9-5, 2.81) against RHP Luis Castillo (8-6, 3.22) at Seattle on Friday night.
Mike Trout hit a two-run homer in a four-run fifth inning to reach 1,000 career RBIs, and the Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 4-1 on Sunday.
Kyle Hendricks (6-7) gave up one run on two hits over six-plus innings and Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 18th save as the Angels earned a split of the four-game series.
Cal Raleigh hit his major league-leading 41st home run for the Mariners.
The Angels broke a scoreless tie when Kevin Newman’s grounder brought home Travis d’Arnaud in the fifth. Luis Rengifo then scored on Logan Gilbert’s wild pitch.
Trout crushed a 443-foot drive to center field off Gilbert to give him 1,001 RBIs. It was his 397th career homer and 19th this season.
Raleigh connected against Hendricks in the seventh, his second home run in two nights and fourth this year against Los Angeles.
Hendricks, who had one walk and three strikeouts, won for the first time since June 17.
Gilbert (3-4) gave up four runs and three hits over five innings with seven strikeouts.
Key moment: Angels center fielder Jo Adell kept Seattle off the scoreboard in the sixth when he reached above the wall to take away a home run from J.P. Crawford.
Key stat: Trout became the third player to get his first 1,000 RBIs entirely in an Angels uniform, following Garret Anderson and Tim Salmon.
Up next: Angels right-hander Jack Kochanowicz (3-9, 6.03) is expected to start Monday against Texas.
NEW YORK — Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer to power the New York Mets to a 6-3 win and series sweep of the Angels on Wednesday.
Alonso, mired in a 2-for-34 slump dating to July 10, homered two batters after Francisco Lindor broke a career-long 0-for-31 drought with an RBI single.
Brandon Nimmo hit his 14th career leadoff homer and Lindor added another RBI single in the fourth for the Mets, who swept a series for the fifth time this season.
Sean Manaea (1-1), making his third appearance and second start after battling oblique and elbow injuries, allowed one run and struck out five over five innings. Edwin Díaz got the final four outs for his 21st save.
Mike Trout homered in the third — the 396th home run and 999th RBI of his career — for the Angels, who were swept for the seventh time. Luis Rengifo (forceout) and Chris Taylor (double) collected RBIs in the seventh.
Left-hander Jake Eder (0-1), the last of three Angels pitchers on a bullpen day, gave up five runs in a career-high six innings.
Key moment
Alonso’s first homer since July 8 was the 248th of his career, pulling him within four of Darryl Strawberry for the all-time Mets franchise lead.
Key stat
Trout is aiming to become the second active player with 400 homers and the ninth with 1,000 RBIs.
Up next
Angels LHP Yusei Kikuchi (4-6, 3.13 ERA) starts Thursday, when the Angels return home for a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners and RHP Logan Evans (3-3, 3.81 ERA).
PHILADELPHIA — Mike Trout arrived in Philadelphia in time to catch the unveiling of a new target in the deepest part of the ballpark — the 2026 All-Star Game logo, complete with the Liberty Bell in the center of the design.
The Angels slugger has something to aim for in Philly.
As a home run target? No, the oversized symbol that celebrates next year’s All-Star Game is raised well beyond the center-field wall and out of reach to even Schwarbombs in Ashburn Alley, closer to the retired numbers on the bricks at Citizens Bank Park.
As a potential destination for next season? Making the All-Star Game is more on the nose for Trout, an 11-time selection who hasn’t been picked to play for the American League since 2023.
Yet each time Trout plays in Philadelphia, just over 40 miles from the slugger’s New Jersey hometown, talk tends to drift from All-Star Games, his injuries, his upcoming career milestones — he’s closing in on 400 homers and 1,000 RBIs — or a rare Angels’ push at the postseason, and lands right on the possibility he’ll one day suit up for the Phillies.
“I hear it all the time,” Trout said with a laugh outside the Angels’ clubhouse on Friday. “Right now, I’m enjoying myself with this team in here. These guys come to the ballpark every day and play hard. It’s hard not for me to see it, because I see it and hear it all the time.”
He’ll settle for at least a crack at the 2026 All-Star Game.
“It would definitely mean a lot,” Trout said.
Mike Trout stands on the field during a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 13.
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
Trout entered the start of a three-game series against the Phillies having the kind of season that has defined most of his last five seasons in California. When he’s healthy, he’s on. He has a .283 batting average, .433 on-base percentage and .478 slugging percentage with eight home runs and 23 RBIs in 41 games since he came off the injured list on May 30. Otherwise, it’s more stints on the IL. This season, he was hampered by a bone bruise on his left knee that cost him time.
Trout was the designated hitter on Friday night against the NL East champion Phillies, who could certainly use a right-handed bat with pop in the outfield as they make their own playoff run. He did some light pregame work in the outfield (“get my feet under me”) and hoped he’d return to right field in the near future. Trout said his knee did feel “a lot better” after four days off and off his feet over the All-Star break.
“I’m just happy to be in the lineup, contributing,” he said. “Years past, it’s just come to the ballpark, not be able to at least hit. That’s been frustrating, that’s been tough.”
He again expected a full house of fans from his hometown of Millville, N.J., on hand to root him on as the three-time AL MVP started the game with 395 career home runs and 995 career RBIs.
“To think about it, it’s just how fast it’s going,” Trout said. “Just trying to enjoy every minute of it. The milestones are awesome. I’m looking forward to hopefully getting them.”
Trout would have blown by those numbers years ago had it not been for his injuries that have allowed him to play more than 82 games only once since 2019.
“Things happen,” he said.
There are no guarantees he’ll chip away at those numbers over the weekend — Trout has never gone deep at Citizens Bank Park.
Trout has kept his ties to the area as he blossomed into one of baseball’s great sluggers; his family still lives in the area, he collaborated with Tiger Woods on a new golf course, and yes, the Eagles season-ticket holder still bleeds kelly green.
The Angels were 47-49 headed into Friday, but only four games out of a wild-card spot. Trout played in three career playoff games in 2014. The Angels’ 47 wins are the most for the franchise at the All-Star break since it had 49 in 2018.
“The team in there right now, we’ve got a great mindset,” he said. “We’ve got a great group in there. We pass the baton at the plate. We’re tough outs.”
None tougher at his best than Trout. He’s trying to become the 20th player in baseball history to hit his first 400 home runs with one franchise.
“This guy is a superstar,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “I saw him when he first came up and he hit the ball as far as you could think. He runs down the first base line, it sounds like a horse, just big and strong and fast.”
Mike Trout homered and had a two-run single to close in on two milestones and Yusei Kikuchi overcame Eugenio Suárez‘s two home runs as the Angels beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-5 on Saturday night.
After the Angels took a 4-2 lead in the fourth, Trout followed Nolan Schanuel‘s leadoff single in the fifth against Zac Gallen (7-10) with his 17th homer. Trout capped a four-run eighth with the two-run single. He has 395 career homers and 994 RBIs.
Suárez hit his 30th and 31st homers, the first a 434-footer in the second into the rocks in center and the second to right center in the fourth to top his total from last season. He reached 30 homers for the sixth time.
Kikuchi (4-6) gave up three runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings. He took a blow to his pitching shoulder in the sixth on Josh Naylor’s liner. The Japanese left-hander stayed in, but was done two pitches later when Randal Grichuk singled to make it 6-3.
Arizona scored twice in the eighth after loading the bases with one out against José Fermin. Zach Neto and Schanuel had RBI singles in the bottom of the inning against Juan Morillo before Trout’s single.
After Suárez’s homer in fourth, the Angels rallied with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-2 lead. Taylor Ward, Jo Adell and Travis d’Arnaud doubled in the inning.
Gallen gave up eight hits and six runs in five innings.
Arizona’s Andrew Saalfrank pitched two scoreless innings in his return from a one-year suspension for betting on MLB games. He was reinstated June 5 and was called up from triple-A Reno on Wednesday.
The Angels moved within a game of .500 at 47-48. The Angels beat the Diamondbacks 6-5 on Friday night.
Key moment: After Arizona pulled within a run in the eighth, Neto, Schanuel and Trout had their consecutive run-scoring singles to break it open in the bottom of the inning.
Key stat: Arizona has lost three straight and 12 of 17 to fall to 46-50.
Up next: Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (7-5, 3.41) was set to start Sunday opposite RHP José Soriano (6-6, 4.00).
Jorge Soler hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning, Mike Trout went deep twice and the Angels beat the Texas Rangers 11-8 on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium.
Trout hit a two-run homer in the third and added his 16th of the season in the fifth, a solo shot that gave the Angels a 6-5 lead. His fly ball out to center in the seventh advanced two runners before Taylor Ward drove in both with a single, tying the score at 8-8.
Travis d’Arnaud hit his sixth home run for the Angels in the fourth inning.
José Fermin (2-0), the seventh of eight Angels pitchers, worked a scoreless inning and earned the victory. Kenley Jansen picked up his 16th save.
Texas’ Marcus Semien drove in four runs. He hit a two-run homer, his 10th, against Reid Detmers in the seventh for an 8-6 lead. Detmers had gone 22 consecutive appearances without giving up an earned run.
Kyle Higashioka hit his third home run and finished with two RBIs for the Rangers.
Neither starter went deep into the game. The Angels’ Kyle Hendricks worked 3 2/3 innings, giving up five runs, four earned. Texas’ Kumar Rocker pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up six runs.
Key moment
Soler’s 421-foot homer to left came after Yoán Moncada’s leadoff single against Luke Jackson (2-5).
Key stat
Trout’s 29th multi-homer game — and his third this season — leaves him six homers shy of 400 for his career.
Up next
Texas’ Patrick Corbin (5-7, 4.18 ERA) pitches against the Angels’ Jack Kochanowicz (3-8, 5.42) on Thursday.
Boston southpaw Garrett Crochet scorched through them on Tuesday night, striking out 10 across seven scoreless innings. The 6-foot-6 Red Sox ace fired high-90s heat with success a day after Walker Buehler struggled to keep the Angels off the basepaths.
But with Crochet removed from the game in the eighth, the Angels discovered life. Enter the youngest-tenured Angel, Christian Moore. He walloped a home run over the left field wall for his second career home run to tie the score at one and help send the game to extra innings.
In the 10th inning, Moore played hero again, shooting a two-run home run to right field to walk-off the Red Sox and lift the Angels (39-40) to a 3-2 victory, bringing them one game below .500 and earning a blue sports drink shower in the process.
The announced crowd of 33,115 fans at Angel Stadium attempted to will a rally into existence in the seventh inning, cheering loudly as the heart of the Angels’ lineup hit after Mike Trout worked a leadoff walk. Crochet dispatched the Angels back to the dugout, inducing pinch-hitter Travis d’Arnaud to pop out and hold a 1-0 lead.
Angels fans would have to wait just one more Angels batter before Moore pulled his home run over the short left-field wall against reliever Greg Weissert. The Angels’ top prospect became the first Angel since 1966, and second overall, to have each of his first two home runs the tying or go-ahead variety in the seventh inning or later.
The Angels’ bullpen, which has emerged as one of the best in baseball during June to the tune of a 2.91 earned-run average entering Tuesday’s game, shut down the Red Sox (40-41) after acting manager Ray Montgomery pulled Tyler Anderson from the game after 4 ⅔ innings and 82 pitches.
Reid Detmers gave up the only run (unearned) out of the bullpen, the 10th inning single from Marcelo Mayer to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead.
Anderson — flummoxed as he watched Montgomery come to the mound as he called on right-hander Connor Brogdon from the bullpen — has only finished the fifth inning twice in his past five starts. Despite the short start Tuesday, the outing was arguably his best in that span, striking out five and walking two, while giving up one run and two hits.
Angels closer Kenley Jansen, who left Monday’s game with shoulder cramps after throwing a few pitches below 90 mph, returned Tuesday and tossed a scoreless ninth.
Zach Neto left Tuesday’s game in the ninth after short-arming a throw, airmailing first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. After a short talk with Montgomery and the team trainer, he walked to the dugout.
Upstaging Shohei Ohtani, especially on a day he pitches, is no easy feat.
But at Dodger Stadium on Sunday afternoon, teammate Max Muncy did it twice — hitting two home runs and matching a career high with seven RBIs to lift the Dodgers to a 13-7 defeat of the Washington Nationals, and make Ohtani more of the sideshow in his second pitching start of the season.
Despite two strikeouts over a scoreless first inning from Ohtani to begin the day, Dodger Stadium had sat in relative silence for the next five innings.
Ben Casparius, who replaced the still workload-restricted Ohtani on the mound in the second, gave up a three-run home run in the third, when a flyball deflected off Hyeseong Kim’s glove at the wall before hitting a fan reaching over the barrier.
Michael Soroka, the former All-Star turned inconsistent journeyman, held the Dodgers hitless into the fifth, racking up a career-high 10 strikeouts while protecting the 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, however, an opportunity for the Dodgers finally arose.
Dalton Rushing led off with a slicing ground-rule double down the left-field line. Ohtani drew a walk with the help of two favorable ball-strike calls. Badly slumping Freddie Freeman was bailed out of an 0-and-2 count on a wild slurve from Soroka that hit his foot.
And suddenly, the Nationals had to go to the bullpen, summoning left-hander Jose A. Ferrer to face Muncy with the bases loaded.
After just three pitches to Muncy, Ferrer called out the grounds crew to rake the mound and smooth out his landing area on the downslope.
But at the plate, it gave Muncy time to think about his at-bat against Ferrer the night before, mentally lock in on what to expect, and catch his breath in the biggest moment of the game.
“When he’s ready, he’s ready,” Muncy said he told himself. “And let’s get a swing off.”
Muncy did on each of the next two pitches, fouling off one center-cut sinker before lining the next deep to left for a script-flipping, deficit-erasing, go-ahead grand slam.
“I saw the guy last night, so had a good idea of what he was throwing in there and how to approach it,” Muncy said. “I was trying to keep the ball off the ground, get something in the air, get at least one run in. Just trying to do a job. And I got a good swing off and got the ball in a good spot.”
Ohtani started the day as the main attraction.
Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani delivers in the first inning against the Nationals on Sunday.
(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
The two-way star drew a crowd as he came onto the field for pregame warm-ups and got loose in the left-field bullpen — prompting fans even up in the upper reserve-level deck to lean over railings and get a look at his dual-role talents.
And once the game began, Ohtani climbed atop the mound and showed progress from his season debut as a pitcher six days before.
“I thought he was considerably better today,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The stuff, the life of the fastball, the command of his pitches — much better.”
Ohtani’s scoreless inning included strikeouts of Luis Garcia Jr. on a sweeper and Nathaniel Lowe on a cutter, representing his first strikeouts since returning from Tommy John surgery. He worked around a dropped infield pop-up from Mookie Betts in an otherwise efficient 18-pitch, 12-strike outing. He hit 99 mph with his fastball while mixing in a healthy dose of sweepers, cutters and splitters to complement it.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hits a home run in the eighth inning Sunday against the Nationals.
(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
“Overall, I was able to relax much better compared to my last outing,” said Ohtani, who noted that the plan for Sunday’s start was to once again be limited to only one inning.
“I think that it’s just more of just trying to get the foundation, the building blocks as he’s taking at-bats,” Roberts added. “Getting an inning here, an inning there, and then just gradually progress.”
Ohtani also quieted recent questions about whether his return to pitching was affecting his bat.
After entering the day two-for-19 in five games since resuming two-way duties, Ohtani helped the Dodgers (48-31) pull away late. In the seventh, he laced a bases-loaded, three-run triple past the first base bag, turning a narrow one-run lead into a comfortable four-score cushion over the Nationals (32-46). In the eighth, he added more insurance, belting a two-run homer to left-center field for his National League-leading 26th long ball.
“When he’s going to the big part of the field, I think he’s really, really good,” Roberts said. “So today was good. And hopefully it quiets the noise a little bit with the days that he pitches.”
Not to be outdone, however, Muncy raised the ante himself in the latter innings, following Ohtani’s seventh-inning triple with a three-run home run to right three batters later.
“You look at the last 30 days, I think he’s been our best hitter,” Roberts said. “We never wavered in our confidence, and we’ve shown that, and he’s proven us all right.”
Indeed, Sunday continued a stunning mid-season turnaround for Muncy — giving him a .305 average with 10 home runs and 38 RBIs over his last 39 games; compared to a .177 average, one home run and seven RBIs in his first 35 contests.
It moved him into third place among National League third basemen this season with an .815 OPS — making a player who once seemed bound for trade rumors this summer unexpectedly on the fringes of the All-Star conversation.
And, it somehow managed to top the all-around production Ohtani displayed in his two-way encore, lifting the Dodgers to a weekend series win and 7-3 record overall on this 10-game homestand.
“It’s definitely a snowball effect,” Muncy said. “Confidence is high right now.”
NEW YORK — Trent Grisham and Paul Goldschmidt hit consecutive homers in the second inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Angels 7-3 on Thursday to halt their six-game skid.
Carlos Rodón (9-5) allowed a season-high three homers but held the Angels to four hits in six innings to bounce back from two rocky outings against the Red Sox. The left-hander struck out seven and walked one on an 89-degree afternoon.
The AL East-leading Yankees stopped their longest losing streak since a nine-game slide in August 2023. New York also avoided its second four-game sweep at the current Yankee Stadium and first since September 2021 against Toronto.
Mike Trout, Jo Adell and Taylor Ward homered off Rodón, but the Angels were unable to finish off their first four-game sweep of the Yankees.
Cody Bellinger had three of New York’s 12 hits, including an RBI single that provided a 5-3 lead in the seventh.
Aaron Judge doubled before a 35-minute rain delay in the eighth and scored on a groundout by Anthony Volpe after play resumed. Austin Wells also hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Angels starter Tyler Anderson (2-5) allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings. The left-hander stayed in after being hit on his lower right leg by Wells’ comebacker in the sixth and took his fifth straight loss.
Key moment
After the Angels went ahead 2-1 on Adell’s solo homer in the second, Grisham followed a single by DJ LeMahieu with his 14th homer. Goldschmidt then pulled a line drive down the left-field line for a 4-2 lead.
Key stats
It was the 10th time this season Grisham has homered to tie a game or give the Yankees a lead.
Up next
Angels LHP Yusei Kikuchi (2-6, 3.05 ERA) starts Friday at home against Houston.
Max Muncy’s 2025 season has been nothing if not enigmatic.
But lately, after a woeful opening month on both sides of the ball, the good (his bat) has been outweighing the bad (his glove).
In the Dodgers’ 6-5 win against the New York Mets on Tuesday, such a duality came into plain view.
In the first inning, Muncy punctuated a four-run ambush of Mets starter Tylor Megill with a two-run home run deep to right field. In the fifth, he committed a costly error at third base that fueled New York’s go-ahead two-run rally. Yet, in the ninth, the veteran slugger capitalized upon his chance for redemption, clobbering his second long ball of the night to tie the score — and set up Freddie Freeman for a walk-off double (with a lot of help from Brandon Nimmo’s poor outfield defense) in the bottom of the 10th.
After an ice-cold opening month with the bat, Muncy has caught fire over his last 22 games, batting .314 with eight home runs (including six in the last seven games), 28 RBIs, 14 walks and only 10 strikeouts.
His defense remains a glaring weak spot, exposed repeatedly in key situations during the Dodgers’ slog through May and the opening days of June.
But for now, his production at the plate is giving him a long leash to work through such issues.
Without his offense Tuesday, the Dodgers likely would’ve lost their third straight game.
When Muncy came up as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers hadn’t scored since his first home run eight innings prior.
Megill had found his footing, retiring 16 of his final 17 batters over a six-inning start. The Dodgers had wasted a golden opportunity to come back in the eighth, coming up empty even after getting the go-ahead runs on second and third base with no outs.
Muncy, however, extended the game with one swing, connecting on an elevated fastball for a no-doubt missile that traveled 408 feet. He flipped his bat as he left the box. He rounded the bases with a steady, confident gait.
An inning later, after Tanner Scott broke out of his recent struggles by holding the Mets scoreless in the top of the 10th, Freeman walked it off on a fly ball that Nimmo let fall at the warning track in left, getting all turned around as the ball came barreling toward the earth to let automatic runner Tommy Edman score with ease.
But, in the opening contest of a World Series rematch at Chavez Ravine on Friday night, the Dodgers mounted another stunning late-game rally against the New York Yankees.
And this time, they didn’t even need an assist from the Yankees’ porous defense.
Seven months to the day since the Dodgers’ historic comeback at Yankee Stadium in last year’s World Series finale — when three Yankees errors keyed an infamous five-run fifth that propelled the Dodgers to the franchise’s eighth championship — the team produced an inning of similarly unexpected magic, scoring four times in the bottom of the sixth to turn a three-run deficit into an eventual 8-5 win at a sold-out Dodger Stadium.
“The situation is a little different,” designated hitter Shohei Ohtani said in Japanese, “but I think coming back to win is always good.”
It was Ohtani who got Friday’s sixth inning started, leading it off with his second home run of the night and MLB-leading 22nd of the season.
Freddie Freeman took over from there, hitting an RBI double off the wall to reprise his role of Yankees killer after winning MVP honors in last year’s Fall Classic.
Then, what had once been a 5-2 New York lead officially evaporated when Andy Pages lined a tying single against a drawn-in infield. The Dodgers finally went in front on a bases-loaded walk from Michael Conforto.
For a team that has been grinding for much of the last month, the sequence led to a scene of stadium-wide elation.
“Just getting guys on, keeping the line moving, getting huge hits,” Freeman said, “that was awesome.”
“Every win is important, [but] this one is a big one,” added outfielder Teoscar Hernández. “We were down early, [but] we didn’t panic.”
Highlights from the Dodgers’ 8-5 win over the Yankees on Friday night.
For the Dodgers (35-22), nothing will compare to the ecstasy of last year’s fifth inning in Game 5; when a dropped ball from Aaron Judge, an errant throw from Anthony Volpe and calamitous miscommunication between Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rizzo keyed the largest comeback in a title-clinching game in World Series history.
Asked about the similarities to Friday’s game, Freeman said he “actually never thought about it.”
But, given the team’s sub-.500 play over the last three weeks, and a rash of injuries that got worse Friday when Mookie Betts was scratched with a fractured toe and Evan Phillips was ruled out for the rest of the season because he’ll need Tommy John surgery, Friday injected this trying stretch of the regular season with a sorely needed jolt of life.
“For us to get behind the 8-ball a little bit … and find a way to scratch back into the game was huge,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Huge game for us to win.”
Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages reacts after he hits an RBI single against the Yankees in the sixth inning Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
For much of Friday, the Dodgers seemed headed to the kind of loss that had become commonplace over their 10-11 slide entering the night.
Their starting pitcher struggled, with Tony Gonsolin giving up four home runs in the first three innings — including a mammoth blast from Judge two batters into the game — to hand the Yankees a 5-2 lead.
Their lineup, meanwhile, was sputtering against a premium pitcher, inducing little stress against major league ERA leader Max Fried after an Ohtani homer to start the night.
“After giving up a run on [Judge’s] homer, I think it’s important for the flow of the game to get one back right away,” said Ohtani, whose first blast was his sixth leadoff homer of the season. It marked the first time in MLB history that the reigning MVPs of both the American and National League hit first-inning home runs in the same game.
“We were in a bad position after that too,” Ohtani noted, “but everyone didn’t give up.”
Indeed, as they did so many times during last year’s World Series, the Dodgers flipped the script on the Yankees (35-21) with an inning they never saw coming.
Dodgers baserunner Freddie Freeman, right, beats the tag of New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells to score in the seventh inning Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Ohtani’s blast to lead off the sixth was a sky-high fly ball to right, carrying just deep enough to land in the pavilion for his 15th home run of May (tying Pedro Guerrero in June 1985 and Duke Snider in August 1953 for the most in a single month in Dodgers history).
“Testament to Shohei,” Freeman said, “who is hitting home runs all over the place.”
The rest of the inning played out more methodically.
Hernández and Will Smith lined back-to-back singles. Freeman chased Fried from the game with an RBI double to left that got over Cody Bellinger’s head. Then, after the Yankees turned to right-hander Jonathan Loáisiga to face Pages, he hammered a ground-ball single through a drawn-in infield to bring home the tying run.
“When you can feel a little momentum, guys getting hits, you just try and keep that line moving,” Freeman said.
Another pitching change, with left-hander Tim Hill entering to face Conforto with the bases loaded and one out, didn’t help either.
“There were a lot of really good grindy at-bats in there, hitting some good pitches, spoiling some pitches,” Conforto said.
Against a ground-ball pitcher in Hill, Conforto took a different approach, working a full count while waiting for something up and over the plate.
On the payoff pitch, however, Conforto “kind of got the feeling he was losing the zone a little bit.”
Thus, when Hill pulled a sinker on his payoff offering, Conforto took for a run-scoring ball four.
“Just a rough inning,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
The Dodgers took more good at-bats in the seventh, when another double from Freeman set up Pages for a two-out, two-run single — with Freeman racing home on his battered right ankle to score on a bang-bang slide.
And after Gonsolin settled down to work through six innings without further damage, the Dodgers’ bullpen made the lead stand, getting key outs from Jack Dreyer and Ben Casparius in the seventh, then struggling late-game options Tanner Scott in the eighth and Alex Vesia for a ninth-inning save.
“It’s still early, it’s still May,” Gonsolin said. “But it’s cool to play that kind of caliber team and come out on top.”
“We try to win each and every game, of course,” Ohtani added. “But I think [tonight was] a special atmosphere. I think it was huge to have taken the [first game] of the series.”
SACRAMENTO — Logan O’Hoppe hit two home runs and drove in three runs, Jo Adell and Zach Neto also homered and the Angels beat the Athletics 10-5 on Wednesday night for their season-high sixth straight victory.
O’Hoppe led off the fourth with his second homer of the game, third in two nights and 13th of the season, just before Adell hit his sixth. Neto’s two-run homer in the third, his eighth, gave the Angels the lead for good at 4-3. The Angels had five two-run innings.
Taylor Ward had three hits, including a triple and double. Jorge Soler had three hits, with two doubles and two RBIs.
Reliever Héctor Neris (2-1) got the win.
The Athletics have lost a season-high eight in a row during which they have been outscored 62-21. JP Sears (4-4) went five innings and gave up six runs and eight hits. The four homers he gave up were a career high.
Rookie Nick Kurtz hit his third and fourth homers. He also homered Tuesday. Lawrence Butler hit his seventh homer, a three-run shot,
Tyler Soderstrom and Max Schuemann had three hits each for the Athletics, who left 13 runners on base.
The Athletics’ Jacob Wilson, third in the majors with a .341 batting average, did not play after leaving Tuesday’s game when he was hit on left forearm with a pitch.
Key moment
Every homer went over 400 feet, with O’Hoppe’s second-inning two-run blast topping them all at 470, easily leaving Sutter Health Park, the Athletics’ temporary home.
Key stat
The Angels have homered in 11 straight games, the longest active streak in the majors. They have hit 15 homers in their last six games.
Up next
The four-game series concludes Thursday with the Angels’ Tyler Anderson (2-1, 3.04) set to start against Luis Severino (1-4, 4.22).
Leave it up to Seth Hernandez of top-seeded Corona High to find a way to impress the many pro baseball scouts attending Tuesday’s Southern Section Division 1 playoff opener with not just his arm but his bat.
He hit two three-run home runs to help Corona defeat Los Osos 11-2. Corona trailed 2-0 into the third inning until the Panthers started going deep. First was a home run by Jesiah Andrade. Then Hernandez started sending balls over the fence. He also struck out 10 and walked one in six innings.
Seth Hernandez of Corona celebrates his second three-run home run.
(Nick Koza)
Corona advances to play Big VIII rival Norco in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Norco 4, Laguna Beach 2: Dylan Seward had three hits and four RBIs while Landon Hovermale threw a complete game.
Crespi 5, El Dorado 2: The Celts rallied for four runs in the sixth inning. Diego Velazquez had a two-run double. Jackson Eisenhauer threw a complete game, striking out seven. Crespi will play Mira Costa in the quarterfinals.
Mira Costa 5, Arcadia 4: An RBI double by Joaquin Scholer in the fifth inning broke a 4-4 tie. He finished with two doubles.
Los Alamitos 8, Orange Lutheran 0: Tyler Smith drove in four runs and three pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout to eliminate the Lancers. Los Alamitos will play Santa Margarita on Friday.
Santa Margarita 6, Huntington Beach 5: Chase Marlow singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning to give the Eagles an upset over Sunset League champion Huntington Beach. Brennan Bauer struck out four in 4 1/3 innings of relief.
Villa Park 8, Aquinas 2: Jake Nobles struck out five with no walks over five innings and Val Lopez had three hits and two RBIs. Villa Park will play St. John Bosco on Friday.
St. John Bosco 5, Vista Murrieta 4: Noah Everly had three hits and two RBIs while Miles Clark homered for the Braves, who rallied with a three-run sixth inning.
West Ranch 12, Crean Lutheran 0: Mikey Murr and Matt Castellon combined on a no-hitter in Division 2.
Sultana 6, Loyola 5: The Cubs dropped the Division 2 game on an error in the ninth inning.
Servite 12, Anaheim Canyon 1: Tomas Cernius hit a three-run home run and Michael Cabral had four RBIs. Servite will play Etiwanda in the Division 2 quarterfinals.
Etiwanda 6, Gahr 1: Angel Mejia finished with four RBIs and Nico Hamilton threw six innings for the Eagles.
Torrance 3, Oaks Christian 2: Mateo Rickman hit a three-run home run to power Torrance, which will face Fountain Valley on Friday.
Fountain Valley 7, Trabuco Hills 0: Josh Grack threw the shutout and also contributed two RBIs.
Foothill 3, San Clemente 2: Ezekiel Vargas and Aidan Colburn each had two hits for Foothill, which plays Mater Dei on Friday.
Mater Dei 6, Simi Valley 4: The Monarchs eliminated second-seeded Simi Valley by scoring six runs in the top of the seventh inning. Brady Guth hit a three-run home run.
As is typically the case when a team wins 19-2 like the Dodgers did against the Athletics on Thursday night, plenty of hitters in the team’s star-studded lineup aligned to have monster nights.
Shohei Ohtani homered twice in a six-RBI performance, tying the major league lead with 15 long balls this season. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also went deep, helping the club set a new season-high for runs. Hyeseong Kim reached base all five times. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts also combined to get aboard five times before being removed after the third inning, the lead at that point already up to 11 runs.
All of those accomplishments, however, paled in personal significance to what the Dodgers’ starting catcher did.
Making his major league debut after being called up in a major roster move the day prior, top prospect Dalton Rushing walked in his first at-bat, singled in the next and went two-for-four while navigating a pre-determined bullpen game behind the plate — a strong showing for a 24-year-old slugger with so much potential, the Dodgers cut longtime backup catcher Austin Barnes to get him on the roster.
“He’s very comfortable, I think, in a good way,” manager Dave Roberts said of Rushing, a second-round draft pick in 2022 who has blossomed into one of the most highly-touted prospects in baseball ever since. “I think he thought he was ready [for the majors] when he signed.”
Rushing’s rise wasn’t that quick, requiring the University of Louisville product to climb through the farm system over four minor-league seasons. But after batting .277 with 54 home runs, 185 RBIs and a .931 OPS as a farm hand, the Dodgers decided their minor league player of the year award-winner from last season was finally ready.
As far as first impressions go, Thursday was a good start.
In the second inning, Rushing got a three-run rally started by drawing a leadoff walk. In the third, he worked a full count before blasting a belt-high sinker through the infield at 110 mph off the bat. In the eighth, he tacked on another base hit when a ground ball to first was booted.
The Dodgers have been contemplating when to bring Rushing to the majors for a while, long ago convinced his bat was ready to handle big-league pitching.
It’s part of the reason why, during the second half of last season, they experimented with him in left field; a position where, at the time, he had a clearer pathway to regular playing time.
This offseason, however, the club decided to rededicate his focus to his duties behind the plate, “challenging him,” as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman put it, to improve his defensive fundamentals, pitching-calling during games and ability to build rapport with members of the pitching staff.
“He’s continued to improve and get better,” Friedman said. “When we drafted him, he was new to catching. So there were a lot of areas to improve upon. But his work ethic is off the charts. And he really cares about being great. Each challenge we’ve given him, he’s met that challenge. And the success he’s had, there’s also an important element of having our finger on the pulse of that with guys, in terms of moving them up.”
And over the last couple weeks, the ways Rushing could potentially impact the club’s MLB roster became increasingly more clear.
Two weeks ago, the Dodgers sorely missed a left-handed bat like his off the bench in a May 4 loss in Atlanta, a game that ended with Barnes and fellow soft-hitting veteran Miguel Rojas recording outs in tough right-on-right matchups against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias.
In Barnes’ final Dodgers start last Saturday in Arizona, his weakened throwing arm was also exposed, the Diamondbacks stealing three bases in a game Barnes one-hopped one throw to second base and airmailed another to the outfield.
Perhaps, if the Dodgers weren’t facing the prospect of a tight division race in this year’s talented National League West, such problems would have been more tolerable. But, with the team’s MLB-best 29-15 record affording them just a one-game division lead so far this year, it’s already become clear that fine margins could matter this season.
So, once the Dodgers returned home from their 10-game trip this week, the front office decided to pull the trigger.
“Rush has obviously been on our radar for a long time in terms of when and how to introduce him to the major league team,” Friedman said. “I think with the improvements we’ve seen year over year, coupled with being in a tight division race … I think it falls in line with our consistent message of doing anything and everything we can to win.”
That didn’t mean cutting Barnes, who was in his 11th season with the Dodgers and won two World Series with the club, wasn’t difficult.
“Obviously Austin has been a huge part of this organization for a long time, he’s been in the middle of a lot of really big moments for us,” Friedman said. “His impact has been significant. So it was one of the harder decisions.”
Barnes’ departure sent ripples around the rest of the clubhouse, as well.
“I think everybody was surprised,” Clayton Kershaw said when asked of Barnes, whose 68 games behind the plate for the future Hall of Famer trails only A.J. Ellis for most in Kershaw’s career.
“It’s sad. Barnesy’s one of my best friends on or off the field. You won’t find a guy that competes better than Austin Barnes. He wants to win more than anybody, and he always found a way, and he came up with some big moments for us throughout the years. I think a lot of people forget he was starting a lot of playoff games and winning a lot of games for us, getting big knocks. It’s sad to see someone like that go who’s been here that long, and I think we all kind of feel it.”
“It’s no disrespect to Dalton,” Kershaw added. “I know he deserves it, and he’s going to be a great player. It’s just for me, personally, I think for a lot of guys on the team, it was disappointing to see [Barnes] go.”
As the door on Barnes’ Dodgers career closes, however, a new one is opening for Rushing.
And one night in, the early results were promising.
“The last mile of his development is helping lead a major league staff,” Friedman said. “We felt like now is the right time to give him that opportunity, and for us to learn some things about him that you can’t know until they’re at the major-league level, and for him to experience the speed of game here, which will be insightful for all of us in terms of the next set of things to work on.”
