ANAHEIM — Blake Snell was supposed to start. He never made it to the mound. Scratched before first pitch and placed on the 15-day injured list with loose bodies in his left elbow, the Dodgers turned to Will Klein and a parade of relievers to carry the night. Andy Pages hit a three-run homer, Max Muncy went back-to-back moments later, and Teoscar Hernandez capped a dominant sixth-inning stretch with his fifth home run of the year as Los Angeles shut out the Angels 6-0 at Angel Stadium to open their nine-game road trip.
Six pitchers combined on the shutout. The Dodgers never trailed. Anaheim managed just one baserunner with any kind of traction all night, and even that came to nothing. It was the kind of clean, professional win a team needs when it is navigating lineup changes and rolling into unfamiliar territory.
Nothing in the First, Then Klein Takes Over
The first two innings were quiet on both sides. Shohei Ohtani struck out swinging to lead things off, Mookie Betts followed him down, and Will Smith lined out sharply to Mike Trout in center to end the top of the first.
Klein matched that energy in the bottom half, retiring Vaughn Grissom, Trout, and Nolan Schanuel on three straight grounders. The Angels did not sniff a baserunner.
The second inning stayed scoreless. Kyle Tucker, Andy Pages, and Max Muncy went down in order for Los Angeles, with Pages called out on strikes after a successful Angels challenge overturned the original call in their favor. Anaheim came up in the bottom half and mustered some noise with a hit-by-pitch on Zach Neto and a Josh Lowe single that put two on, but Logan O’Hoppe flew out to Tucker in right to strand them both and keep it at zero.
Klein’s Night Ends Early, Henriquez Holds the Line
The Dodgers threatened in the third without scoring. Hyeseong Kim got things started with a single to center that deflected off second baseman Oswald Peraza. Ohtani walked to put runners on first and second. Then Mookie Betts grounded out to pitcher Jack Kochanowicz to end the threat. Still nothing on the board, but Los Angeles was beginning to apply pressure.
Edgardo Henriquez came on in relief to open the bottom of the third, replacing Klein. A challenged call went the Dodgers’ way this time, with Peraza ruled out on an overturned review at first. Henriquez then fanned Grissom and Trout back-to-back to get through the inning clean. Through three, scoreless on both sides.
Pages and Muncy Go Back-to-Back to Break it Open
The fourth inning is where the game changed. Will Smith singled on a fly ball to center to get things started, and Tucker worked a walk to put two on. Kochanowicz then threw a wild pitch that moved both runners up, Smith to third and Tucker to second. That brought up Pages with runners in scoring position and no outs.
Pages did not waste it. He sent a fly ball to center field and watched it land for his tenth home run of the year, a three-run shot that cleared the bases and gave Los Angeles a 3-0 lead. Muncy stepped in immediately after and sent one to right field for his twelfth home run of the season, and just like that it was 4-0 before the Angels had recorded a single out in the inning. The damage stopped there. Hernandez flew out, Rushing struck out, and Kim grounded out, but the lead was real and it was comfortable.
Blake Treinen came on to replace Henriquez in the bottom of the fourth and made quick work of Anaheim, retiring Nolan Schanuel, Jorge Soler, and Jo Adell without any of them reaching base.
Ohtani Double and Hernandez Homer Put it Away
Ohtani reminded everyone he was in the lineup in the fifth, ripping his eighth double of the season to left field to lead off the inning. The Dodgers could not cash in. Betts grounded out, Smith grounded out to move Ohtani to third, and Tucker lined out sharply to Adell in right to strand him, but the baserunner total was starting to stack up.
Wyatt Mills took over in the bottom of the fifth, working around a Zach Neto walk and a groundout that moved him to second before getting Peraza swinging to end the inning. The 4-0 lead held through five.
Los Angeles added two more in the sixth and put the game away for good. Pages opened the frame with a groundout, but Muncy followed with a single to right and Hernandez stepped up and launched a two-run homer to right-center, his fifth of the year, to extend the lead to 6-0. Rushing and Kim could not extend the inning, but the Dodgers had all the cushion they needed.
Bullpen Locks It Down
Kyle Hurt, Alex Vesia, Jack Dreyer, and Charlie Barnes handled the final four innings without surrendering a run. The Angels threatened in the seventh when Zach Neto singled with one out, but Vesia retired pinch-hitter Bryce Teodosio and Sebastián Rivero on strikeouts to end the inning. In the eighth, Mike Trout reached on a walk with two outs but Schanuel went down looking to preserve the shutout. Barnes worked a clean ninth to close it out.
Trout went 0-for-2 with a walk in what was a quiet night for Anaheim’s franchise centerpiece. Kochanowicz took the loss, allowing four runs on three hits over six innings while the Dodgers’ makeshift rotation and relief corps held the Angels to four hits on the night.
Up Next
Los Angeles opens a three-game set at Angel Stadium and will look to build on the momentum Friday. Game 2 of the series goes Saturday with left-hander Justin Wrobleski taking the ball for the Dodgers. After Anaheim, the road trip continues with stops in San Diego and Milwaukee before the team returns home.
