ANAHEIM — The Dodgers came to Angel Stadium for three games and left with three wins. Sunday’s series finale was a little cleaner, a little quieter than the night before, but the result was exactly the same. Los Angeles beat the Angels 10-1 behind a career performance from Roki Sasaki and a lineup that kept finding ways to add on. The Freeway Series is over. Los Angeles won every game of it.
The Offense Got Going Early
The Dodgers didn’t score in the first, but they made contact right away. Shohei Ohtani singled sharply to center to open the game before Freddie Freeman grounded into a double play to erase the threat. The tone was still set.
Los Angeles got on the board in the second. Kyle Tucker singled, Max Muncy walked, and Dalton Rushing drew another walk to load the bases with one out. Miguel Rojas cashed in with a sacrifice fly to right field to make it 1-0. Hyeseong Kim followed with a single to score Muncy and push it to 2-0. The Dodgers were in front and Sasaki was rolling. That combination turned out to be plenty.
The Fourth Inning Broke It Open
The game’s defining moment came in the fourth, and it came fast.
Teoscar Hernandez drew a leadoff walk and the inning started to build. With two outs already recorded, Kim singled to put runners at second and third. Ohtani stepped up and lined a two-run single to right to make it 4-0. Freddie Freeman walked to extend the inning. Andy Pages followed with a sharp two-run single of his own to push it to 6-0. Tucker added an RBI single before Hernandez flew out to finally end it. Five runs in one inning, and the Angels had nothing left.
Anaheim got their lone run in the fourth when a Roki Sasaki wild pitch moved Nolan Schanuel to second and a Yoan Moncada single brought him home. But one run against a Dodgers team that had just put up six in the same inning felt like noise. The game was already decided.
Sasaki’s Best Day in a Dodger Uniform
If there’s one story that defines Sunday’s game, it’s Roki Sasaki.
He went seven full innings, allowed four hits, gave up one earned run, and struck out eight batters. But the number that stands out most is the zero in the walk column. Sasaki did not issue a single walk on Sunday, marking the first time in his big league career he has thrown seven or more innings without walking a batter. He also set a new career high in strikeouts for a single outing.
For a pitcher who entered the day with a 5.09 ERA and a reputation for losing the strike zone at the worst moments, Sunday looked like the version of Sasaki the Dodgers believed they were signing. He was efficient, aggressive, and in command from the first pitch to the last. The Angels went three up, three down in the second, third, fifth, sixth, and seventh. They never mounted anything that felt like a real threat after the fourth inning run.
Alex Vesia took over in the eighth and threw a clean frame, striking out two. Chayce McDermott handled the ninth.
One More Time in the Ninth
With the game already in hand, the Dodgers added three more in the ninth just to put an exclamation point on it. Kim walked and Ohtani singled. Tucker then doubled to right to score two more runs. Hernandez singled home Tucker to cap the scoring at 10-1. Tucker finished the game 3-for-5 with three RBI. Ohtani went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Kim scored twice and knocked in one. The Dodgers went 7-for-11 with runners in scoring position on the day and left just five men on base. That is a clean offensive performance.
Los Angeles outscored Anaheim 31-3 across the three-game series. The Freeway Series was not close.
Up Next
The road trip continues. Los Angeles heads south to San Diego for a three-game series against the Padres starting Monday night. First pitch at Petco Park is set for 6:40 PM PST. Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the ball for the Dodgers against Michael King for San Diego.
